Cereal Leaf Beetles are Abundant and Laying Eggs in Wheat

Cereal leaf beetles (CLB) were easy to find in the wheat I scouted in Ontario and Livingston Counties this week. One field had a very high number of beetles. There are no thresholds for adults in small grains. Most adults were paired up and mating. I was able to find some eggs but they are just starting to lay them. CLB eggs are orange and usually laid down the midrib of the leaf. There could be just one egg or several in a chain. Threshold is three eggs and larvae per plant or one larva per flag leaf. Oats are the favored food source for CLB. If numbers are high it is a good opportunity to add some insecticide to your herbicide application. The May 14 USDA NASS report for NY estimated that only 62% of the oats had been planted and 21% emerged.

Winter Wheat Update

Much of the wheat I looked at this week was at Feekes Stage 8 and 9 (Full flag leaf emerged). The weather has been great and the wheat is moving quickly. The first malting barley in the region is flowering and fungicide applications for head scab started yesterday. Barley is usually 10 to 14 days ahead of wheat so start getting prepared for your fungicide applications at flowering. With flag leaf emergence, most herbicides applications are done.  We now need to focus on disease and insect scouting. I have not seen any powdery mildew yet. See above piece on cereal leaf beetles. On May 14, USDA NASS NY rated the wheat crop as 3% very poor, 6% poor, 27% fair, 48% good and 16% excellent.

Pheromone Trap Update

After a low moth catch last week, black cutworms are up again this week. Four of the five locations had significant flights. Looking at cumulative degree days from the flight two weeks ago, most of the region will hit that 90 degree day mark by Sunday. This means that BCW eggs will be hatching. Looks like there could be two distinct waves with this new flight. The larvae will feed on the leaves before they are big enough to cut plants. This occurs around 300 degree days.

Armyworms continue to be low except at the trap in Castile, Wyoming County. Wheat fields and corn planted into cover crops should be scouted in the coming weeks.

• Egg hatch around 90 Degree Days
• Plant cutting around 300 Degree Days
• Degree Day data from Network for Environment and Weather Applications, NEWA

Summary of Alfalfa Height and Prediction of % NDF- Unavailable 

Next report will be May 24.