With the current high value of barley, growers should closely monitor armyworm infestations as crops approach maturity. Armyworms are important pests in southern Queensland where they attack winter cereals, particularly barley and oats, in September and October. Larvae appear in plague proportions in some years, and are patchy in others. Head cutting by large larvae can lead to serious losses… Read more »
Making decisions about control of Cereal Aphids This post is an update on cereal aphid management following a number of enquiries from growers and agronomists over the last week or so. Which species in crops? There are two species of aphid you are most likely to encounter in winter cereals (oats, wheat and barley). They are the oat aphid (Rhopalosiphum… Read more »
Aphid control decisions tend to be more problematic in moisture stressed winter cereal crops, since in a well supplied crop the level of moisture extracted from the crop by aphids is of little concern. However, in dry times every drop seems precious. Had we not received the recent rain over the last few days throughout southern Queensland and northern NSW… Read more »
On Friday August 10, St George growers and agronomists met to discuss strategies to manage the Silverleaf whitefly population in the irrigation area. Over the past two seasons, a number of cotton fields in St George have been treated for SLW. Last year more fields were treated earlier, and required a second treatment. It is clear that SLW is now… Read more »
A new guide to calculating economic thresholds available now Growers and agronomists are now able to calculate how much yield they will lose if they do not control an infestation of helicoverpa in chickpea. They can calculate the point at which it is economic to control an infestation based on the potential yield loss, their costs of control, the expected… Read more »
About 50 devoted enthusiasts of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) gathered in Toowoomba on 24-25 July 2007 for the annual Northern Farming Systems IPM Researchers Forum. Participants in the forum were from industry, research, extension and stakeholders. The aims of the IPM Forum were to exchange the latest information about research and projects and to maintain linkages between IPM projects and… Read more »
Hi, and welcome to the first online edition of The Beat Sheet – a blog focussed on integrated pest management news relevant to Australia’s northern grain region. Until now, The Beat Sheet has simply been a newsletter circulated via email and snail mail (going back further, its orginal name was the Heliothis Hotline). While the newsletter format will continue for… Read more »
