The mild winter is being blamed for intense insect pressure in forage crops this spring.

Iowa State University Extension agronomist Aaron Saeugling covers southwest Iowa and says outside of a blizzard in January, the winter was not harsh.

“We did get cold temperatures, but that was after the snowfall, so it was extremely mild for insects in particular. So alfalfa weevil populations are very high.”

He tells Brownfield pea aphid numbers are also exploding, and encourages growers to scout.

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