Sweet corn growers have begun planting the first sweet corn for local farm stands. This means that collaborators with the sweet corn pheromone trap network are getting ready to place traps for five different types of moths at 37 farms across New York. They want to stay on top of moth flights because their larvae are the worms consumers don’t like to find when they husk their corn.
Cooperators check traps weekly and report results to NYS IPM’s Marion Zuefle, who manages the trap network and the western NY Sweet Corn Pheromone Trap Network blog: (SCPTN). Find eastern NY trap catches on Pestwatch out of The Pennsylvania State University. The SCPTN blog posts weekly trap catches — and also provides information on scouting, thresholds, and management. Growers use this information to help make management decisions — which could lead to fewer insecticide sprays and fewer worms, which makes both farmers and their customers happy.
Here’s how to subscribe to weekly posts sweetcorn.nysipm.cornell.edu.