Orange County Onion Scouting Report

Seed Treatment Recommendations for 2026 (and Beyond)

As you all start putting together seed orders for next season, I’m sharing some updated research results from Dr. Brian Nault and Christy Hoepting on insecticidal seed treatment packages. Their research conducted under very high maggot pressure in Oswego County suggests that Sepresto (clothianidin + imidacloprid) and NipsIt (clothianidin) are the most effective insecticidal seed treatments for managing maggots in NY. In Orange County, we continue to see Trigard + Cruiser (the standard insecticides in the FarMore FI500 package) work well in addition to Lumiverd (spinosad). In order to preserve the efficacy of these treatments moving forward, we recommend rotating through different seed treatment chemistries each year. Here is a sample four-year insecticidal seed treatment plan that is appropriate for Orange County onion growers:

Year 1: Sepresto or NipsIt

Year 2: Lumiverd + Cruiser

Year 3: Sepresto or NipsIt

Year 4: Trigard + Cruiser.

In order to manage damping of pathogens and onion smut, additional fungicidal seed treatments are also recommended. We continue to suggest that growers use the FarMore F300 fungicide package (mefenoxam + fludioxinil + azoxystrobin) for damping off management and EverGol Prime (penflufen) for onion smut.

If you treated your onion seed with Sepresto + Lumiverd + FarMore F300 + EverGol Prime in 2025, an option for 2026 could be FarMore FI500 + EverGol Prime. If, instead, you treated your seed with FarMore FI500 in 2025, an effective option for 2026 could be Sepresto or NipsIt + FarMore F300 + EverGol Prime. If you’d like to read more about the research in Oswego County and seed treatment packages, check out the following links:

2026 Onion Seed Treatment Cheat Sheet

Article on onion seed treatment research in Oswego County and recommendations for 2026

Feel free to call me with any questions or concerns as you prepare for the 2026 season!

Ethan

 

August 5, 2025 Onion Scouting Report

The soaking rain last week and lower temperatures provided some relief to onion crops in the valley, but some late direct seeded fields are showing the cumulative signs of slow growth in the cool and wet spring combined with prolonged heat stress. Not all hope is lost in fields where onions are beginning to lodge and are on the smaller side; if the plants still have healthy root systems, the bulbs can increase in size by 25% after lodging. Onion thrips pressure is down significantly this week thanks in part to the rain and effective insecticide applications. Many growers only have Radiant and/or Lannate left as recommended insecticides at this point in the season; it does not pay to spray if your thrips population is as low as it is in the fields that were scouted this week. Stemphylium leaf blight (SLB) appears to have spread a bit with the wet weather and more moderate temperatures last week. With overnight lows below the dew point for much of the next week, conditions could still favor SLB development despite the lack of rain in the forecast. This could be a good week for a second and final double FRAC 3 application (i.e. Viathon + Tilt, Luna Experience + Tilt, or Inspire Super + Tilt). Generally, though, SLB pressure remains lower than usual this season and most crops appear on track to finish nicely without risk of dying standing up.

Central Black Dirt SE of Pulaski Highway

12-13 leaf stage ‘Bradley” transplanted 4/10/25

Average bulb size 3 to 4 ½ inches

Approximately 60% lodging

  • Insects: Thrips Pressure (Low)- average thrips per leaf: 0.061
  • Weeds: Some ragweed, nutsedge and pigweed escapes
  • Disease:
    • Some SLB lesions on green tissue
    • Very low Botrytis leaf blight (BLB) detected
  • Other: 15-20% of the field producing seeders.

Despite being over halfway lodged, there is still a lot of green left in the foliage in this field. Given that there are more SLB lesions on green tissue this week, a final double FRAC 3 fungicide application makes sense. Thrips pressure is very low and no insecticide is needed.

Pine Island West

10-11 leaf stage ‘Red Mountain’ direct seeded, 4/16 planting date

Average bulb size 1 ½ to 2 inches

  • Insects: Thrips Pressure (Very Low)- average thrips per leaf: 0
  • Weeds: Isolated ragweed escapes, similar to last week
  • Disease:
    • SLB is similar to the previous weeks
    • Some BLB pressure noted

As discussed last week, this field is lodging quickly and will likely have a high proportion of undersized bulbs. Disease pressure and thrips pressure are both low. Given the projected size issues, I would consider keeping the spray program cheap for the remainder of the season; another Bravo + phosphoric acid fungicide application would be sufficient.

North End near New Hampton

11-12 leaf stage ‘Oneida’ direct seeded on 4/18/25

Average bulb size 2 to 3 inches

Approximately 20% lodging

  • Insects: Thrips Pressure (Very Low)- average thrips per leaf: 0
  • Weeds: Excellent weed control with some pigweed escapes
  • Disease:
    • SLB pressure similar to the previous weeks
    • Some BLB detected on older leaves

The thinner stand in this field is resulting in some beautifully sized bulbs that are beginning to lay down nicely. Thrips pressure is non-existent, but there are some more SLB lesions on green tissue compared to last week. This field has been sprayed with more FRAC 3 fungicides this season than ideal, so finishing up with a FRAC 7 pre-mix like Miravis Prime or Luna Tranquility plus a phosphoric acid fungicide could work. Alternatively, Oso (FRAC 19) + phosphoric acid could be an option, but I understand the frustration of only being able to purchase 1 quart bottles.

Disclaimer: Changes in pesticide registrations occur constantly and human errors are possible. Read the label before applying any pesticide. The label is the law. No endorsement of companies is made or implied.

 

July 29, 2025 Onion Scouting Report

The high heat and dry conditions are pushing the onion crop along quickly. For early maturing varieties planted at low to moderate densities, the onions have great size and are starting to go down with fairly low Stemphylium leaf blight pressure (SLB). This could be a good week to squeeze in one more spray of Bravo + phosphoric acid if your thrips populations are under control and you don’t need a systemic or translaminar insecticide in the tank. Later maturing varieties, late plantings, and densely planted fields are showing serious signs of stress and are struggling to make size under the environmental conditions. While SLB has been mostly kept in check due to the hot dry weather, thrips and two-spotted spider mites (TSSM) are flaring up in areas. Growers that have used Exirel are seeing effective knock down and residual suppression of onion thrips from cyantraniliprole, but the active ingredient has no activity on TSSM. For growers who suspect TSSM in their fields, products containing abamectin (Agri-Mek, Minecto Pro) should be effective. Unfortunately, most growers have already used abamectin for thrips management this season and other industry standard miticides like Portal XLO and Sniper are not labeled for use on onions. Assail, a neonicotinoid, will have some activity on both thrips and TSSM and could be applied in combination with a pyrethroid like Lamcap or Warrior. Pigweed escapes are a common site around the valley, even in fields that were sprayed with high rates of Chateau earlier this season. I’ll be experimenting with a few POST options on pigweed escapes later this week or early next week in addition to applying very late PRE herbicide applications in an effort to keep pigweed pressure low through harvest in late plantings.

Central Black Dirt SE of Pulaski Highway

11-12 leaf stage ‘Bradley” transplanted 4/10/25

Average bulb size 2 ½ to 4 inches

Approximately 30% lodging

  • Insects: Thrips Pressure (Low)- average thrips per leaf: 0.048, some two-spotted spider mites (TSSM)
  • Weeds: Some ragweed, nutsedge and pigweed and crabgrass escapes
  • Disease:
    • SLB is similar to last week, visible as dirty leaf tips with almost no lesions on green tissue
    • Very low Botrytis leaf blight (BLB) detected
  • Other: 10-15% of the field producing seeders.

The Exirel that was applied last week radically reduced onion thrips pressure in this field. As discussed above, there are some TSSM in the field and could justify an application of Assail + Lamcap this week (two abamectin applications have already been made). Given that this crop likely only has 3 sprays, at most, left and that there is fairly low disease pressure in the field, a maintenance fungicide application of Bravo + phosphoric acid should be sufficient and allow us to save a final double FRAC 3 application for the second to last spray (i.e. Viathon + Tilt, Luna Experience + Tilt, or Inspire Super + Tilt). This crop is looking great and should be a heavy yielder.

Pine Island West

10-11 leaf stage ‘Red Mountain’ direct seeded, 4/16 planting date

Average bulb size 1 ½ to 2 inches

  • Insects: Thrips Pressure (Very Low)- average thrips per leaf: 0
  • Weeds: Isolated ragweed escapes, similar to last week
  • Disease:
    • SLB is similar to the previous weeks
    • Low BLB pressure

Disease pressure and onion thrips pressure are both extremely low in this field. Unfortunately, these onions were planted at around 12 seeds/foot and are struggling to make size while flopping early. Given that the crop is unlikely to make desirable size, it may be wise to back off the top tier spray options moving forward. For this week, Bravo + phosphoric acid is all that is needed; grower could add a contact pyrethroid like Lamcap or Warrior if desired, but no insecticide is necessary given the lack of thrips.

North End near New Hampton

11-12 leaf stage ‘Oneida’ direct seeded on 4/18/25

Average bulb size 1 ½ to 2 inches

  • Insects: Thrips Pressure (Very Low)- average thrips per leaf: 0
  • Weeds: Excellent weed control, but some pigweed escapes breaking through despite earlier Chateau apps
  • Disease:
    • SLB pressure similar to the previous weeks
    • Some BLB detected on older leaves

This is another field that is demonstrating the excellent knock down power of Exirel. Though this crop was thinned out more than desired due to a combination of early maggot feeding injury and root rot, the result is that these ‘Oneida’ are putting on great size and have plenty of green on them to continue bulbing nicely. Since there is still quite a way for this field to go, I’d encourage the grower to consider squeezing in a Bravo + phosphoric acid application either with just a pyrethroid or an Assail + pyrethroid tank mix. Alternatively, another Luna Tranquility + phosphoric acid spray could be justified, though many growers in the valley have already leaned hard on the FRAC 7 premix products (Miravis Prime, Luna Experience, Luna Tranquility, Trivapro) this season. Pigweeds are frustratingly easy to find in this field that was sprayed with two, 2 fl oz/acre applications of Chateau in the 2-3 leaf stage; thankfully, they aren’t very dense in the field and should be easy enough to hand weed quickly.

Disclaimer: Changes in pesticide registrations occur constantly and human errors are possible. Read the label before applying any pesticide. The label is the law. No endorsement of companies is made or implied.

 

July 22, 2025 Onion Scouting Report

While the fields that were scouted this week (New Hampton field not scouted due to spray schedule conflict) had thrips populations well below threshold, onion thrips (OT) populations are on the move as the earliest Outlander and Highlander are harvested and even bare root transplanted ‘Bradley’ fields begin to flop. Growers who see moderate, but not high OT pressure in their later maturing fields and have already sprayed Minecto Pro twice need to be careful to not spray away all of their effective insecticides. Minecto Pro is a pre-mix of the active ingredients in Agri-Mek (abamectin) and Exirel (cyantraniliprole). We strongly discourage growers from using both Minecto Pro and either Agri-Mek or Exirel in the same field in the same season to avoid OT populations developing resistance to those active ingredients. Under low-to-moderate OT levels, some growers have had success applying either a pyrethroid alone (Lamcap, Warrior, etc.) or a pyrethroid tank mixed with a neonicotinoid like Assail (acetamiprid). Remember that the pyrethroids have shorter residuals than translaminar and systemic products and the neonics have historically not performed well under high OT pressure, but the combination of the chemistries can keep populations from exploding and delay the use of your first Radiant SC application. Still no news on a Special Local Needs emergency use label for plinazolin technology, but it is appearing less likely that Syngenta’s new chemistry will be available in time for us to use it for OT management in 2025.

Many growers have now made their first application of double FRAC 3 fungicides (i.e. Viathon + Tilt, Luna Experience + Tilt, or Inspire Super + Tilt). I encourage you to wait until your second to last fungicide application for your next and final double FRAC 3 application. As a reminder, the FRAC 3 products Proline and Phobos (prothioconazole) are not labeled for use on onions, but have shown good performance reducing Stemphylium leaf blight (SLB) severity in small plot research trials. If you’ve already sprayed a lot of FRAC 7 pre-mix products (Luna Tranquility, Miravis Prime, etc.), this could be a good week to try either a tank mix of Swtich (FRAC 9 + 12) + phosphoric acid (ProPhyt, Rampart, Reveille, etc.) or Oso (FRAC 19) + phosphoric acid.

Some of you have asked me about using Optogen on bigger onions in fields that have ragweed escapes. I have used Optogen at 3.5 fl oz/acre on 9-leaf stage direct seeded onions both alone and in tank mix with 2 quarts/acre of Prowl H2O and have not seen excessive leaf injury or a reduction in crop yield. Remember, though, that Optogen is only labeled for a single application per field per year, so if you sprayed Optogen earlier in the season, you can’t legally apply it again. Additionally, Optogen is most effective on ragweed that is 4-inches tall or shorter, so your ragweed may be too large to effectively control with Optogen at this point in the season. I do NOT recommend tank mixing Optogen with Buctril this late.

Central Black Dirt SE of Pulaski Highway

11-12 leaf stage ‘Bradley” transplanted 4/10/25

Average bulb size 2 ½ to 3 ½ inches

Approximately 10% lodging

  • Insects: Thrips Pressure (Low)- average thrips per leaf: 0.19
  • Weeds: Some ragweed, nutsedge and pigweed escapes
  • Disease:
    • SLB is similar to last week, visible as dirty leaf tips
    • Very low Botrytis leaf blight (BLB) detected
  • Other: 10-15% of the field producing seeders. ~8% of the crop lodging.

This field had a large influx of onion thrips migrating into it from a nearby block of early transplants. The grower applied Exirel at 18 fl oz/acre in tank mix with Viathon + Tilt and significantly reduced the thrips levels to below threshold. This could be a good candidate field for a follow up application of a pyrethroid + Assail as described above in tank mix with Switch + phosphoric acid or Oso + phosphoric acid. The high heat forecast for later this week might accelerate the rate of lodging in this and other fields of transplants, but there is still plenty of green in the leaves and lots of size potential to gain by continuing to actively manage this field.

Pine Island West

10-11 leaf stage ‘Red Mountain’ direct seeded, 4/16 planting date

Average bulb size 1 ½ to 2 inches

  • Insects: Thrips Pressure (Very Low)- average thrips per leaf: 0.01
  • Weeds: Isolated ragweed escapes, but mostly clean thanks to hand weeding
  • Disease:
    • SLB is similar to the previous weeks. Slight increase in the number of sporulating lesions on dead leaf tissue caused by earlier herbicide and copper injury.
    • Very low Botrytis leaf blight (BLB) detected

The grower made a second application of Minecto Pro and has virtually no onion thrips pressure. While an insecticide is not needed this week, a simple addition of Lamcap/Warrior will not hurt and can provide some knockdown of thrips migrating into the field. If the grower skips translaminar or systemic insecticides this week, it also presents another opportunity to apply a last shot of Bravo either mixed with phosphoric acid or potentially a tank mix of Bravo + Switch + phosphoric acid. There is still a long way to go in this field before harvest, so I want to keep a couple of FRAC 7 pre-mix products like Luna Tranquility and Miravis Prime available to us in addition to another double FRAC 3 application as SLB severity tends to increase as the season progresses.

North End near New Hampton

9-10 leaf stage ‘Oneida’ direct seeded on 4/18/25

NOT SCOUTED DUE TO SPRAY SCHEDULE

 

 

July 14, 2025 Onion Scouting Report

The prolonged heat and humidity are pushing onion crops along as most direct seeded fields are in the 1.5” bulb stage and the earliest plants are nearly ready for harvest. However, the weather is also supporting an increase in Stemphylium leaf blight (SLB) severity, bacterial leaf infections, and thrips populations. For growers who have been waiting for the right moment to make their first double FRAC 3 fungicide application (i.e. Viathon + Tilt, Luna Experience + Tilt, or Inspire Super + Tilt), now would be a good time. Many fields are showing around 2-4% of onions with visible bacterial leaf infections. As discussed in previous scouting notes, research has not found any antimicrobial products that work on the multiple bacterial species that cause leaf infection and bulb rot. If you’re considering applying copper, I’ll reiterate that the safest way to do so is without a penetrating adjuvant, without any pH buffer products, without phosphoric acid fungicides (ProPhyt, Rampart, Reveille, etc.), and without Goal. As we spray our way through Dr. Brian Nault’s onion thrips management program, remember that you should not spray Minecto Pro after Agri-Mek or Exirel after Minecto Pro since Minecto Pro is a pre-mix of the active ingredients in Agri-Mek and Exirel. If you have already sprayed Minecto Pro twice, Radiant at 10 fl oz/acre is your best next move. For direct seeded onions with a lot of time left to go, though, be cautious to not spray away all of your thrips management options too early in the season. There is still a chance that the emergency Special Local Needs request for Syngenta’s new insecticide Plinazolin will come through this season, but we’re still waiting on a final decision from the EPA.

Central Black Dirt SE of Pulaski Highway

10-11 leaf stage ‘Bradley” transplanted 4/10/25

Average bulb size 2-3 inches

  • Insects: Thrips Pressure (ABOVE THRESHOLD): average Thrips per Leaf: 1.21
  • Weeds: Some ragweed escapes, but hand weeding crew has done an excellent job
  • Disease: Early signs of Stemphylium leaf blight (SLB), visible as dirty leaf tips
  • Other: 10% of the field producing seeders/s

Thrips seem to be migrating from a large block of early transplants that have all flopped and are drying down. Grower made an application of Minecto Pro a week ago, but it rained shortly afterward and seems not to have had a chance to work its way into the plant. Grower will come back this week with his first double FRAC 3 application of Viathon + Tilt plus Exirel at 16 fl oz/acre.

North End near New Hampton

9-10 leaf stage ‘Oneida’ direct seeded on 4/18/25

  • Insects: Thrips Pressure (Low)- average thrips per leaf: 0.13
  • Weeds: Excellent weed control
  • Disease:
    • SLB pressure is higher with some black/purple sporulation on lesions. Some dirty tips and a few lesions on green tissue.
    • Some Botrytis leaf blight (BLB) detected on oldest leaves.

Bacterial leaf infections are easy to find in this field and probably represent about 4% of the crop. Thrips pressure is increasing off the road, but is low across the field; could be worthwhile to spray just the end of the field with Agri-Mek to keep those thrips from establishing. While the earlier applications of Chateau are providing great week control, the crop injury that resulted is where the SLB is really thriving. Grower already made a double FRAC 3 application and should consider rotating back to something like Switch (FRAC 9 + 12) + phosphoric acid (ProPhyt, Rampart, Reveille, etc.) or Luna Tranquility (FRAC 7 + 9) with a phosphoric acid. A lot of growers are including 1.5-2 lbs/acre of manzate still; my only recommendation is to NOT include manzate with a phosphoric acid fungicide if you’re also planning to tank-mix GoalTender as we have seen issues with that mix.

Pine Island West

9-10 leaf stage ‘Red Mountain’ direct seeded, 4/16 planting date

  • Insects: Thrips Pressure (Low)- average thrips per leaf: 0
  • Weeds: Isolated ragweed escapes, but mostly clean thanks to hand weeding
  • Disease:
    • SLB is similar to the previous weeks. Slight increase in the number of sporulating lesions on dead leaf tissue caused by earlier herbicide and copper injury.
    • Very low Botrytis leaf blight (BLB) detected

Grower sprayed Luna Experience (FRAC 3 + 7), manzate, and Bravo last week. I would have liked to have seen the grower include Tilt or Inspire Super in the tank with Luna Experience, but the manzate and Bravo will provide some good preventative activity especially on BLB that could flare up with the high humidity. Switching back to a Luna Tranquility (FRAC 7 + 9) + phosphoric acid spray or a Switch + phosphoric acid could work for the next application. Since no insecticide is needed, the grower could also consider one more Bravo + manzate + copper spray since the field was hand-weeded and doesn’t necessarily need another application of Goal right now. Prowl and Outlook were applied in the last week as well; I’m encouraging folks with later maturing varieties to consider topping off their Prowl sprays up to 45 days pre-harvest this year given that we lost a lot of the pre-emergent activity earlier in the season due to excessive rain. Previous research has shown that these late season applications are safe and can improve weed suppression through harvest.

July 8, 2025 Onion Scouting Report

I have had conversations with some of you this week about unexpected spray injury in your onions. Remember that onions build and shed wax on a daily basis; expect higher risk of spray injury early in the morning (especially when there are heavy dews still on the plants that can further erode wax and result in spray droplets concentrating along ridges in the leaves). Several growers also reported some injury from including a copper product in their spray tank. As discussed previously, the safest copper applications are made WITHOUT acidifying the spray tank (this includes using Spray Aid, Request, or any pH buffer product), WITHOUT a penetrating type adjuvant (Induce, Dyne-Amic, etc.), WITHOUT phosphoric acid fungicides (ProPhyt, Rampart, Reveielle, etc.), and WITHOUT Goal or GoalTender in the mix. At least one grower reported no injury tank mixing Badge SC, manzate, and Bravo Weatherstik with nothing else in the tank.

If you do end up with crop injury from your spray, understand that you are absolutely going to see Stemphylium leaf blight (SLB) in your field soon after. The name of the game at this point is keep what is green as green as possible for as long as possible. That is to say, we will never effectively manage SLB on dead tissue, but can work to keep SLB lesions off of the healthy green tissue. I also encourage growers to not panic and go right back out to spray injured crops again on a really tight interval- sometimes stacking more chemistries on top of an injured plant only exacerbates the situation. Many of you are including products intended to reduce plant stress in your tanks as well; there has been some research on other vegetable crops on mineral soils that suggest that seaweed extracts and other biostimulant stress reducers can help plants recover from this type of injury.

Central Black Dirt SE of Pulaski Highway

9-10 leaf stage ‘Outlander’ bare root plants, 5/25/25 planting date

Average bulb size 3 ½ to 4 inches

Approximately 75% lodging

  • Insects:
    • Thrips Pressure (Low)- average thrips per leaf: 0
  • Weeds:
    • Some ragweed, nutsedge, and mustard escapes.
  • Disease:
    • Very little leaf injury and, as a result, low levels of SLB
    • Low Botrytis leaf blight (BLB) pressure as noted in previous weeks.

Notes: This was the last week that we will be scouting this field as it is quickly approaching maturity; we will shift to a nearby field of transplanted reds. While many growers like to put out a final spray of Bravo and copper at this stage, keep in mind that neither of those products have systemic or translaminar properties, which means that all of the foliage that is fallen toward the ground will be totally unprotected from disease. Despite being 75% down, there is still a lot of green left in this field and it could benefit from a second and final application of Viathon + Tilt to maximize the yield. Remember, onions can increase in size by 25% after lodging, so continuing to invest in the crop despite them being in the home stretch is still justified.

North End near New Hampton

7-8 leaf stage ‘Oneida’ direct seeded on 4/18/25

  • Insects:
    • Thrips Pressure (Low)- average thrips per leaf: 0.022
  • Weeds:
    • Excellent weed control.
  • Disease:
    • Stemphylium leaf blight (SLB) pressure is about the same as the previous weeks. Some dirty tips and a few lesions on green tissue that are secondary on Chateau injury.
    • Some Botrytis leaf blight (BLB) detected on oldest leaves.

Notes: It’s survival of the fittest season in this field. Onions that were battling some maggot feeding injury and root rot issues have fallen out and the onions that remain are thriving. The grower made the decision to apply his first Viathon + Tilt application last week in this field given the Chateau injury and the humid weather forecast. Given the low levels of thrips, there are lots of options for where to rotate the fungicide program for the next application. A tank mix of Bravo + Omega 500F would provide excellent BLB management and decent SLB protection in a week where no systemic insecticides are needed. Since GoalTender will be in the tank, the three-way mix of Bravo + manzate + copper might be too hot for this already herbicide-injured crop. Though I’d like to keep it for co-application with the next translaminar/systemic insecticide, the grower could also consider a shot of Miravis Prime + phosphoric acid. This is one of the cleanest fields I’ve seen from a weed management perspective (that hasn’t been hand weeded), but the Chateau injury is higher than desirable and will provide an easy foothold for SLB infection moving through the season.

Pine Island West

8-9 leaf stage ‘Red Mountain’ direct seeded, 4/16 planting date

  • Insects:
    • Thrips Pressure (Low)- average thrips per leaf: 0.026
  • Weeds:
    • Isolated ragweed escapes ranging from 4 inches to 2 feet in height
    • Some Asiatic dayflower and mustard escapes that will be hand weeded this week
  • Disease:
    • SLB is similar to the previous weeks. Mostly visible as dirty leaf tips (likely herbicide and copper damage as contributing factor)
    • Very low Botrytis leaf blight (BLB) detected

Notes: Low thrips pressure gives us an opportunity to mix in a shot of old school chemistries on this field that will be a later maturer. As discussed above, Bravo + Omega could be an option, but I have heard some grower anecdotes of Omega heating up GoalTender in tank mix, so maybe best to steer clear given the mild copper burn on the leaves from a spray that included Request and Induce. If Goal will be left out of the tank, another Bravo + manzate + copper application could be an option to keep the FRAC 3 and FRAC 7 tank mixes for later in July and August under higher SLB and thrips pressure.

Disclaimer: Changes in pesticide registrations occur constantly and human errors are possible. Read the label before applying any pesticide. The label is the law. No endorsement of companies is made or implied.

 

July 1, 2025 Onion Scouting Report

Summer weather seems to have decided to stick around for a while with consistently warm temperatures and higher humidity levels forecast for the next 10 days. Even if we dodge the predicted scattered thunderstorms, watch for heavy dew sets with overnight lows in the upper 50s later this week. The combination of prolonged leaf wetness from dew sets combined with high humidity and temperatures in the mid-80s will create the right conditions for Stemphylium leaf blight (SLB) to make more of an appearance in the valley. Christy Hoepting recently updated her onion fungicide cheat sheet based on research results from last season here: https://rvpadmin.cce.cornell.edu/uploads/doc_1216.pdf. For those of you who attended the lunch meeting on Tuesday, you’ll recall that I’m encouraging growers to hold onto their double FRAC 3 applications (i.e. Viathon + Tilt, Inspire Super + Fitness, Luna Experience + Inspire Super) for a couple more weeks on direct seeded crops. Thrips pressure across the fields that we scouted dropped considerably this week; it would be a good time to consider skipping the insecticide (or just adding in a pyrethroid like Warrior or Lamcap) and stretching out your fungicide program with an old school three way mix of Bravo + Manzate + Badge SC. When using copper products, reduce the rate of penetrating type adjuvants (Induce, Dyne-Amic, etc.) and reduce the rate of water conditioners/acidifiers that you’re using (copper ions are more available at lower pH and can cause more damage).

Central Black Dirt SE of Pulaski Highway

9-10 leaf stage ‘Outlander’ bare root plants, 5/25/25 planting date

Average bulb size 3 to 3 ½ inches

Approximately 15% lodging

  • Insects:
    • Thrips Pressure (Low)- average thrips per leaf: 0
  • Weeds:
    • Some small ragweed, nutsedge, and mustard escapes.
  • Disease:
    • Stemphylium leaf blight (SLB) pressure is about the same as the previous weeks. Some dirty tips and a few lesions on green tissue that are secondary on herbicide injury and colonizing older leaves that are beginning to dry down as bulbing progresses.
    • Low Botrytis leaf blight (BLB) pressure as noted in previous weeks.
    • Bacterial rot symptoms (interior leaves dying down quickly and plant wilting) are visible on about 3%-5% of the plants

Notes: This crop is in the final stretch and is on track for a late July harvest. Given the total absence of thrips in the field, I’d consider two different options for fungicide programs. First, the grower could keep it old school with the aforementioned combination of Bravo + Manzate + copper with the hope of potentially cleaning up some lingering bacteria on the foliage in addition to providing excellent BLB management and some activity on SLB. Second, given that there are likely only 3 sprays left on this crop, the grower could use one of his Viathon + Tilt double FRAC 3 applications for the best activity on SLB.

North End near New Hampton

6-7 leaf stage ‘Oneida’ direct seeded on 4/18/25

  • Insects:
    • Thrips Pressure (Low)- average thrips per leaf: 0.036
  • Weeds:
    • Excellent weed control. Onions appear to be recovering from herbicide injury noted last week.
  • Disease:
    • Stemphylium leaf blight (SLB) pressure is about the same as the previous two weeks. Some dirty tips and a few lesions on green tissue that are secondary on herbicide injury.
    • Some Botrytis leaf blight (BLB) detected on oldest leaves.
    • 8-10% foliar bacterial rot symptoms

Notes: This field is recovering nicely from exceedingly wet conditions. Thrips pressure is still way below threshold in this field, but the crop is at the proper stage for a Movento/Senstar application. Given the tank mix incompatibility with the active ingredients in Movento and Bravo, I’d consider applying Miravis Prime + phosphoric acid (ProPhyt, Rampart, Reveille) in the tank with Movento/Senstar. Keep in mind the injury that we’ve seen when combining phosphoric acid fungicides with metallic compounds in products like manzate and coppers and GoalTender in the past, especially on more sensitive varieties like ‘Outlander’ and ‘Delgado.’

Pine Island West

7-8 leaf stage ‘Red Mountain’ direct seeded, 4/16 planting date

  • Insects:
    • Thrips Pressure (Low)- average thrips per leaf: 0
  • Weeds:
    • Isolated ragweed escapes ranging from 4 to 15 inches tall
  • Disease:
    • SLB is similar to the previous two weeks. Mostly visible as dirty leaf tips (likely herbicide-related damage as contributing factor)
    • Very low Botrytis leaf blight (BLB) detected
    • 5% foliar bacterial rot symptoms

Notes: Just like the field described above, thrips pressure is minimal, but the crop is at the proper stage for Movento. Again, a tank mix of Movento + Luna Tranquility at 16 fl oz/acre + ProPhyt at 1.5 qt/acre would be a nice mix. As discussed at the lunch meeting, the grower should plan to skip insecticide for at least one spray riding the “momentum of Movento” after the two sequential applications allowing for a return to fungicide programs including Bravo. The crop is too large to consider applying Optogen for the ragweed escapes; the grower has decided to leave the dispersed ragweed for a quick pass through with the hand weeding crew. There are some signs of some copper burn from an application made with both Induce and Request in the tank over the weekend; again, copper applications are safest at higher pHs and without penetrating adjuvants in the tank. If copper is being applied with Bravo Weatherstik, the spreader sticker in that formulation is sufficient to help spread and adhere the copper to the onion foliage. Keep in mind other products like Spray Aid also acidify the spray solution.

 

June 25, 2025 Onion Scouting Report

The heat has been a blessing and a curse. On the plus side, fields are drying out a bit, onions have leapt up in height, and transplants are quickly developing bulbs now that we’re past the summer solstice. On the minus side, onion thrips have arrived, the first clear bacterial symptoms presented themselves, and weeds are growing just as well as the onions in many fields.

The three fields that we scouted all had onion thrips (OT) levels below action thresholds. However, we scouted several other fields of transplants across the valley today that had been sprayed with two sequential applications of Movento and still had populations above the threshold of 1.1 OT per leaf. With only moderate pressure present, proceeding through Dr. Nault’s spray sequence to an application of Agri-Mek (abamectin) makes sense in many cases, though it can take several days to be effective. Minecto Pro, a pre-mix of abamectin and cyantraniliprole, is another option with slightly longer residual activity than Agri-Mek. Just as with Movento, these translaminar insecticides are less effective when tank mixed with any product containing chlorothalonil (Bravo, Initiate, Echo, etc.). Surprisingly, both Stemphylium leaf blight (SLB) and botrytis leaf blight (BLB) levels have remained largely unchanged for the past few weeks. The first clear signs of bacterial rot symptoms showed up with the heat this week. No research trial has ever demonstrated any significant reduction in bacterial bulb rots from applying any antimicrobial product (copper, peroxide, streptomycin, etc.) or induced systemic resistance/systemically acquired resistance products (LifeGard, Regalia, etc.). However, I know many growers still feel it’s worth including one of these products. The standard combination for managing bacterial diseases in other crops is mancozeb + copper. I DO NOT recommend tank mixing these chemistries with phosphoric acid fungicides and Goal. However, newer copper formulations like Badge SC are easy to mix, more compatible than older coppers, and safer on crops especially if the tank pH is kept at 6.5 or higher.

Don’t forget to register for the Onion Pest Update Meeting on July 1 at noon outdoors at the Polish legion. We’ll discuss early results from the Optogen/Chateau application sequence trial, some observations using Chateau POST on bare root transplants this spring, and disease management plans for the rest of the season: https://cceorangecounty.org/events/2025/07/03/2025-field-meeting-onion-update

Central Black Dirt SE of Pulaski Highway

9-10 leaf stage ‘Outlander’ bare root plants, 5/25/25 planting date

Average bulb size 2 ½ to 3 inches

  • Insects:
    • Thrips Pressure (Low)- average thrips per leaf: 0.074
  • Weeds:
    • Some ragweed, nutsedge, and mustard escapes.
  • Disease:
    • Stemphylium leaf blight (SLB) pressure is about the same as the previous four weeks. Some dirty tips and a few lesions on green tissue that are secondary on herbicide injury and colonizing older leaves that are beginning to dry down as bulbing progresses.
    • Low Botrytis leaf blight (BLB) pressure.
    • Bacterial rot symptoms (interior leaves dying down quickly and plant wilting) are visible on about 3%-5% of the plants

Notes: The first onions in this field have started to flop and average bulb size is looking good. Though thrips levels are well below threshold, it may be worth including Agri-Mek or Minecto Pro in the next fungicide spray as this crop likely only has three sprays remaining before harvest. The grower made his first double FRAC 3 application of Tilt (propiconazole) + Viathon (tebuconazole + potassium phosphite) last week; rotating to a pre-mix fungicide like Miravis Prime (FRAC 7 + 12) with or without a phosphoric acid fungicide will tank mix nicely with either translaminar insecticide and allow the grower to either return to a double FRAC 3 next week or, if thrips levels are very low, keep it old school with a three-way mix of Bravo, copper, and Manzate.

North End near New Hampton

5-6 leaf stage ‘Oneida’ direct seeded on 4/18/25

  • Insects:
    • Thrips Pressure (Low)- average thrips per leaf: 0.218
  • Weeds:
    • Excellent weed control, but above average herbicide injury from Chateau applied during the cool wet weather
  • Disease:
    • Stemphylium leaf blight (SLB) pressure is about the same as last week. Some dirty tips and a few lesions on green tissue that are secondary on herbicide injury.
    • Some Botrytis leaf blight (BLB) detected
    • 8-10% foliar bacterial rot symptoms

Notes: This field showed the highest level of bacterial rot symptoms of any field scouted this week. If you recall from the scouting notes several weeks ago, this field also had noticeable onion maggot pressure that was resulting in damage to the basal plate despite the insecticide seed treatments effectively killing the maggots. It appears as if the majority of the bacterial symptoms in this field are secondary and found on plants that had some maggot feeding injury. Thrips pressure is still below threshold and this planting is still a couple of weeks away from really bulbing, but a first application of Movento could be warranted. If Movento is applied, Luna Tranquility at 16 fl oz/acre with a phosphoric acid fungicide could be a good option for tank mixing. If Movento is delayed a week, an application of Bravo at 24 fl oz/acre + manzate at 2 lbs/acre + copper could be an option; see the notes above on how to keep copper applications safe on onions.

Pine Island West

6-7 leaf stage ‘Red Mountain’ direct seeded, 4/16 planting date

  • Insects:
    • Thrips Pressure (Low)- average thrips per leaf: 0
  • Weeds:
    • Some ragweed escapes upwards of 8-12 inches
  • Disease:
    • SLB is similar to last week. Mostly visible as dirty leaf tips (likely herbicide-related damage as contributing factor)
    • Very low Botrytis leaf blight (BLB) detected
    • 5% foliar bacterial rot symptoms

Notes: Given the absence of OT in this field, it may be a good week to skip the insecticide and apply a Bravo + manzate + copper mix. The ragweed that had been burnt to the ground with Buctril and Goal is back from the dead. While many of the ragweed escapes are still small enough to be effectively managed by Optogen, the weed pressure is spotty in the field and could likely be dealt with by hand weeding quickly and efficiently, especially since some of the ragweed is already too large to confidently kill with Optogen. Larger plantings of bare roots in nearby fields have some adult OT present where two sequential applications of Movento were made. This is a common phenomenon as Movento has poor activity on OT adults; however, young larvae hatching from any eggs that are laid should be effectively managed and keep population levels in check.

 

 

June 17, 2025 Onion Scouting Report

To state the obvious, we could use some dry sunny weather. Onions are limping along struggling to push significant growth given the lack of sunlight and saturated soils. Growers should consider supplemental applications of nitrogen this year as cool soils have been slow to release N from the pool of organic matter and some N has also likely leached below the active root zone. See Christy Hoepting’s article on side dressing nitrogen in wet years here: https://cornell.box.com/s/udgz23lw8vo4sh8zdx3hjea3gzqgwjyp. The benefit of the cool wet weather is exceptionally low thrips pressure. None of the fields that were scouted this week had any thrips activity. For later transplants that have not begun to push bulbs greater than 1” diameter, growers may still want to initiate their Movento or Senstar applications.

Don’t forget to register for the Onion Pest Update Meeting on July 1 at noon. We’ll discuss early results from the Optogen/Chateau application sequence trial, some observations using Chateau POST on bare root transplants this spring, and disease management plans for the rest of the season: https://cceorangecounty.org/events/2025/07/03/2025-field-meeting-onion-update

Central Black Dirt SE of Pulaski Highway

9-10 leaf stage ‘Outlander’ bare root plants, 5/25/25 planting date

Average bulb size 2” with some pushing 3”

  • Insects:
    • Thrips Pressure (Low)- average thrips per leaf: 0
  • Weeds:
    • Field mostly clean following hand weeding
  • Disease:
    • Stemphylium leaf blight (SLB) pressure is about the same as the previous three weeks. Some dirty tips and a few lesions on green tissue that are secondary on herbicide injury and colonizing older leaves that are beginning to dry down as bulbing progresses. Low Botrytis leaf blight (BLB) pressure.

Notes: Grower applied Luna Tranquility at 16 fl oz/acre, Manazate at 3 lbs/acre, and Bravo at 24 fl oz/acre last week. Since two sequential applications of Luna Tranquility were made, grower needs to rotate to products that do NOT contain a FRAC 7 fungicide. Options could include an application of Manzate + phosphoric acid (ProPhyt, Rampart, etc.), but grower also wants to tank mix GoalTender and has observed unacceptable crop injury tank mixing those three products in the past, especially on sensitive varieties like ‘Outlander’. Another option could be a tank mix of Oso at 10 fl oz/acre + phosphoric acid to lower risk of crop injury and maintain some activity on both SLB and BLB. No insecticide is recommended.

North End near New Hampton

4-5 leaf stage ‘Oneida’ direct seeded on 4/18/25

  • Insects:
    • Thrips Pressure (Low)- average thrips per leaf: 0
  • Weeds:
    • Excellent weed control with Chateau, but higher than usual onion leaf burn from application during low wax conditions.
  • Disease:
    • Stemphylium leaf blight (SLB) pressure is about the same as last week. Some dirty tips and a few lesions on green tissue that are secondary on herbicide injury.
    • Fair amount of Botrytis leaf blight (BLB) detected

Notes: Even though the onions are still fairly small and the field is very wet, an application of Bravo alone, Bravo + Manzate, or Bravo + phosphoric acid could help keep the BLB pressure in check. No insecticide recommended.

Pine Island West

5-6 leaf stage ‘Red Mountain’ direct seeded, 4/16 planting date

  • Insects:
    • Thrips Pressure (Low)- average thrips per leaf: 0
  • Weeds:
    • Similar to last week: scattered ragweed, Asiatic dayflower, and some marsh yellowcress
  • Disease:
    • Some Stemphylium leaf blight (SLB), visible as dirty leaf tips (likely herbicide-related damage as contributing factor)
    • Very low Botrytis leaf blight (BLB) detected

Notes: An early application of Bravo has helped keep BLB under control in this field. Ragweed has been held by applications of Buctril + Goal, but the wet conditions continue to support regrowth. If and when the weather improves, this field could benefit from an application of Optogen at 3.5 fl oz/acre + Buctril at 2-4 fl oz/acre (note: the Optogen label only allows one directed row middle application in muck grown onions). No insecticide is needed now, but Movento or Senstar should be applied in 1-2 weeks once the plants take off and we’re past the summer solstice. Another application of Bravo could help maintain low SLB and BLB levels in the field and set the grower up to rotate to a product like Luna Tranquility or Miravis Prime with the first insecticide applications in 7-14 days since Bravo interferes with the activity of systemic and translaminar insecticides.

 

June 10, 2025 Onion Scouting Report

We started scouting two direct seeded fields this week, one in Pine Island and one on the northern end of the muck approaching New Hampton. We found no thrips in our scouting this week. Low level Stemphylium leaf blight (SLB) and Botrytis leaf blight (BLB) pressure is present in all fields. For early plants that are about to begin bulbing, making an application of Movento or Senstar may still make sense despite the lack of thrips activity. Remember that products containing chlorthalonil (Bravo, Initiate, Echo 90 DF) have consistently lowered the performance of Movento and other systemic and translaminar insecticides in NY research trials. Many of you like tank mixing your first insecticide with Inspire Super; I encourage you to consider saving that FRAC 3 + 9 pre-mix for later in the season when we’ll be battling higher SLB pressure. Other tank mix options for a Movento or Senstar application could include mancozeb + phosphoric acid (ProPhyt, Rampart, Reveille, etc.- careful if also mixing with GoalTender as we’ve seen this become a hot mix with the addition of oxyfluorfen), Luna Tranquility at 16 fl oz/acre, or Miravis Prime at 11.4 fl oz/acre. Scouting notes by field are below:

Central Black Dirt SE of Pulaski Highway

8-9 leaf stage ‘Outlander’ bare root plants, 5/25/25 planting date

Average bulb size 1 inch, max 2 inches

  • Insects:
    • Thrips Pressure (Low):
      • Average Thrips per Leaf: 0
  • Weeds:
    • Some pin heads in furrows, but GoalTender keeping the field mostly clean
  • Disease:
    • Stemphylium leaf blight (SLB) pressure is about the same as the previous three weeks. Some dirty tips and a few lesions on green tissue that are secondary on herbicide injury.
  • Other:
    • Foliar injury from pelting rain on the west-facing leaf surfaces

Notes: Grower applied Agri-Mek and Luna Tranquility last week; the insecticide application appears to have effectively controlled the thrips that had migrated into the field from the adjacent grass. With the foliar injury from pelting rain, the plants will be more susceptible to botrytis leaf blight (BLB) in particular. Another application of a preventative fungicide like Bravo and/or Manzate should be sufficient to keep disease pressure in check- no insecticide application is recommended. Bulbs are starting to show some nice size and should be on track for a late July harvest.

North End near New Hampton

3-4 leaf stage ‘Oneida’ direct seeded on 4/18/25

  • Insects:
    • Thrips Pressure (Low):
      • Average Thrips per Leaf: 0
  • Signs of maggot activity (see notes below)
  • Weeds:
    • Excellent weed control
  • Disease:
    • Early signs of Stemphylium leaf blight (SLB), visible as dirty leaf tips (likely herbicide-related damage as contributing factor)
    • Low levels of Botrytis leaf blight (BLB) detected

Notes: This field is extremely wet (like most) with green algal growth on the soil surface. While there are no thrips in the field yet, there are clear signs of maggot activity (wilting plants with signs of maggot feeding on bulbs when inspected). The ‘Oneida’ seed was treated with Sepresto and Lumiverd; the insecticide seed treatments appear to be working as expected despite the signs of maggot feeding. We didn’t find any living maggots in affected plants, suggesting that the maggots were killed after consuming a lethal dose of the seed treatment actives. However, with the multiple environmental factors already stressing and stunting plants this spring, the low level injury from maggot feeding is causing more thinning out than would typically be the case. Chateau has been incredibly effective in this field keeping weeds in check. An application of Bravo with or without a phosphoric acid fungicide (ProPhyt, Rampart, Reveille, etc.) could be helpful to manage the BLB and low level SLB pressure. No insecticide application is recommended.

Pine Island West

4-5 leaf stage ‘Red Mountain” direct seeded, 4/16 planting date

  • Insects:
    • Thrips Pressure (Low):
      • Average Thrips per Leaf: 0
  • Weeds:
    • Ragweed (see notes), Asiatic dayflower, and some march yellowcress
  • Disease:
    • Early signs of Stemphylium leaf blight (SLB), visible as dirty leaf tips (likely herbicide-related damage as contributing factor)

Notes: The saturated soils have provided ragweed with the right conditions to push new growth despite having been burnt to the ground with Buctril + Goal. Keep an eye out for regrowth on ragweed that you thought you took care of a week ago. Optogen can be applied (label required directed between row application) at 3.5 fl oz/acre safely and take down ragweed escapes that are 3-4 inches tall. While we’ve found Optogen to be more effective when mixed with Buctril, the wet soils are not conducive to high rate applications and Optogen alone was effective at managing ragweed in 2024 field trials. We’re still learning how to use this new herbicidal tool, but it seems that it works best POST on ragweed when applied during a period of sunny weather with at least a day or two of dry sunny weather following (a rare occurrence this season). An application of Bravo with or without a phosphoric acid fungicide (ProPhyt, Rampart, Reveille, etc.) could be helpful to manage the BLB and low level SLB pressure. No insecticide application is recommended.

June 3, 2025 Onion Scouting Report

Central Black Dirt SE of Pulaski Highway

7-8 leaf stage ‘Outlander’ Bare root plants, 5/25 planting date

  • Insects:
    • Number of Plants Scouted: 30 plants
    • Thrips Pressure (Low):
      • Average Thrips per Leaf: 0.11
      • Percent Adult Thrips: ~25%
  • Weeds:
    • Hand weeded- some pin heads starting to push through with warmer weather.
  • Disease:
    • Stemphylium leaf blight (SLB) pressure is about the same as the previous two weeks. Some dirty tips and occasional lesions on green tissue that are secondary on herbicide injury.

Notes: It is surprising that any thrips are present given the weather that we’ve had the past few weeks. This field is down wind of several fields of mature hay that were terminated recently- it is likely that thrips from those fields have migrated into adjacent fields in this location and, as a result, are likely present at a higher level than most black dirt fields. Plants are already starting to bulb, which is usually an indication that applications of Movento or Senstar will be less effective and populations are still well below action thresholds (0.6 thrips/leaf for those chemistries). The combination of higher temperatures and saturated soils will create excessive humidity in the crop canopy that could create the right conditions for SLB to spread. Given that this early maturing variety only has, at most, 5 fungicide applications remaining, it may be a good time to incorporate a targeted systemic chemistry. I’m encouraging growers to save their FRAC 3 products (Inspire Super, Viathon, Tilt, Quadris, etc.) for later in the season. Some options to consider would be Miravis Prim (FRAC 7 + 12), Luna Tranquility (FRAC 7 + 9), or a tank mix of a P07 phosphoric acid fungicide (Rampart, Reveille, ProPhyt) with Oso (FRAC 19).

Ragweed escapes are present in many fields along with pigweed. I’m conducting a trial this year to look at how to best sequence applications of Chateau and Optogen and will invite folks to tour the plots if there are interesting differences to see. Remember that Optogen is only labeled as a shielded application once at 3.5 fl oz/acre and can be mixed with several other herbicides like GoalTender and Buctril, but has the potential to cause greater injury when mixed with oily products. Our experience has been that Optogen works best POST on ragweed, not PRE, and is most effective in combination with Buctril during sunny weather.

We’ll being scouting two additional direct seeded fields next week.

 

May 28, 2025 Onion Scouting Report

Central Black Dirt SE of Pulaski Highway

6-7 leaf stage ‘Outlander’ Bare root plants, 5/25 planting date

  • Insects:
    • No thrips observed during scouting
  • Weeds:
    • Marsh yellow cress noted along field edges especially in spray tracks
  • Disease:
    • Some Stemphylium leaf blight (SLB) visible. No SLB noted on green tissue.

Notes: Herbicide injury appears to higher than normal.

May 19, 2025 Onion Scouting Report

Central Black Dirt SE of Pulaski Highway

5–6 leaf stage ‘Outlander’ Bare root plants, 5/25 planting date

  • Insects:
    • No thrips observed during scouting
  • Weeds:
    • Scattered yellow nutsedge 2–3” in height
    • A few ragweed escapes around 2” present
    • Marsh yellow cress noted along field edges especially in spray tracks
  • Disease:
    • Early signs of Stemphylium leaf blight (SLB), visible as dirty leaf tips (likely herbicide-related damage as contributing factor)
    • Low levels of Botrytis leaf blight (BLB) detected

Notes: It’s concerning that Stemphylium is showing up this early in the season. Given that herbicide injury has been higher than usual this spring given the uncooperative weather and low wax conditions, growers should keep an eye out for SLB to colonize injured leaf tissue. SLB prefers slightly warmer conditions, so we could be in for high pressure if and when temps increase if we continue to experience above average rain or prolonged high humidity. Frequent applications of oxyfluofen (GoalTender) at ¼ to ½ fl oz/acre are doing a decent job keeping weeds in check until better weather can allow for other herbicidal tools to be used with less risk of injury. In fields of the earliest transplants like this where foliage is starting to fill in, an application of chlorothalonil (Bravo, etc.) could help reduce SLB pressure and keep BLB in check. Conditions have been supportive of downy mildew (DM), but I have not yet seen any issues in the valley. If you have fields with poor air movement surrounded by trees or have a history of DM in your fields, mancozeb or any of the phosphoric acid fungicides (ProPhyt, Rampart, Reveille, etc) have decent activity on DM. The Orondis products are the most effective tools that we have for DM, but are likely not necessary on your farm unless you have serious pressure.