Though it’s not easy to estimate this early in the year which insect pests will pressure crops the most this year, a few signs and trends point to which pests could cause farmers the most trouble later on in the growing season.
Field and weather conditions over the last few months make it likely that some common pests of recent years in the Corn Belt — namely soybean aphids and corn rootworms — aren’t expected to cause as much trouble for the 2010 crop. For others, it’s still too early to tell, says University of Illinois (UIUC) Extension Integrated Pest Management specialist Mike Gray.
