Photo courtesy of Iowa State University Extension

Farmers across much of the Midwest continue to face fall armyworm pressure. 

Randy Niver is a technical agronomist for DEKALB Asgrow in east-central Illinois.  “It’s a migratory pest so we don’t see it every year,” he says.  “This year it’s starting to show up in alfalfa and pasture ground so if you have a soybean field around – be scouting for it.”

AUDIO: Randy Niver, DEKALB Asgrow

Channel agronomist Brandon Beck says this has been one of the worst years he can remember for fall armyworms.  “A lot of guys with double-crop beans have been coming in a spraying an insecticide on them late,” he says.  “On regular crop beans there’s enough dead material they’re not moving through them as well.  Even outside of Channel Seed, I’ve had a lot of guys asking questions about their hay fields with the armyworms coming in late and devastating hay fields in just a couple of days.”

AUDIO: Brandon Beck, Channel

Both agronomists say scouting is crucial to detection and the pests have the ability to destroy a crop overnight.

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