Author Archives: Melina Miles

Whitefly in establishing canola crops – Central NSW

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Over the past couple of weeks there have been reports of whitefly adults infesting canola in the Central West and Lachlan regions of NSW. This is not an occurrence that has been recorded before, so we don’t know conclusively what the outcome will be of these infestations. What I have done is pulled together information on whitefly that will help… Read more »

Rutherglen bug in canola stubble – potential to damage establishing summer crops.

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Rutherglen bug (RGB) are best known for the damage they can cause in sunflower and sorghum during grainfill, but they can also damage and even kill seedlings when present in large numbers. In 2012 RGB damaged establishing spring crops in areas of southern and northern NSW. This spring, in some crops there are large numbers of RGB in the canola… Read more »

Spring pests of winter cereals

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Armyworm in barley and wheat. A number of reports of armyworm in crops have been received over the past couple of weeks. Numbers range from 30 to 50 per square metre (extreme) to a more typical 5 to10 larvae per square metre. Assessing larval density is done using a sweep net, bucket or beating a section of row into a… Read more »

Rutherglen bugs in cotton – cause for concern?

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Contributors: Susan Maas (CRDC), Lewis Wilson (CSIRO) There are currently reports of high numbers of Rutherglen bugs (RGB) in cotton across a number of growing regions (Downs, Namoi, Gwydir), and questions being asked about whether this pest can cause damage to reproductive cotton. This season has seen large spring migrations of RGB into cropping areas from Emerald to the Liverpool… Read more »

Helicoverpa and midge management in sorghum

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As crops come into head and start to fill grain, sorghum midge and helicoverpa will start to infest crops. Making a decision about when control is warranted is made somewhat easier with the availability of economic threshold calculators now available on the Beatsheet Blog (https://thebeatsheet.com.au/sampling-2/); or use the ready reckoners in this article. MANAGEMENT OF SORGHUM MIDGE How to count… Read more »

Management of Rutherglen bug in seedling crops, sorghum and sunflower – updated

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Since early November, large numbers of Rutherglen bug (RGB) have been migrating into cropping regions from northern NSW through to Central Queensland. Whilst the exact origin of the bugs is unknown, it is likely that they are being carried on storm fronts from inland regions where they have bred up over winter and spring on native host plants that are… Read more »

An economic threshold calculator for Helicoverpa in chickpeas

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  Calculating the economics of control is critical to making a decision about if and when Helicoverpa populations in chickpeas require treatment. This season, for the first time, growers and agronomists have access to an on-line calculator to help them make these decisions. The calculator overcomes the need to try and remember the formulas in the field. Best of all,… Read more »

Aphids in canola

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There are a number of canola crops in this season, and as the weather warms up the aphid numbers are building up in some of them. The aphids that colonise canola are most commonly the cabbage and the turnip aphid. There may also be a few green peach aphid present. The aphids colonise the terminal end of the flower spike… Read more »

Making a decision about control of aphids in winter cereals

As the weather warms up aphid populations are becoming more obvious in crops.  With aphid populations more visible in the crop, the key questions are whether they will impact on the yield of the crop, and whether it is necessary to control the aphids to avoid yield loss. Aphid infestations are widespread this year in both barley and wheat.  In some instances,… Read more »