Mid-Coast IPM

The crop tours for this year are as follows: Refugio County     June 10     Austwell Community Center in the morning     Bonnieview Community Center in the afternoon DeWitt County    June 9     Gruenau Hall in the Afternoon Event Flier Victoria County     June 16     Dacosta Hall in the morning Calhoun County     June 16     Extension Office in the Afternoon Event Flier More details to come.

This week we were able to set up and spray an insecticide control test near Cuero, TX.  This test has products we have hope will be successful in controlling the insect, but there is still some uncertainty until we get the data in a week or two.  The other factor is that none of these products are labeled for control of mealybugs in pastures.   Yellow Sugarcane aphids and Pasture mealybug nymph There have been some challenges finding the mealybugs in the fields.  In the field with this study, the majority of mealybugs found are very small nymphs.  We have several observations regarding scouting for the mealybug.  1) Time of day may be important for scouting pastures. It seems we can find more before noon than after the day has heated up. 2) Larger mealybugs may drop off the plant when disturbed so being careful when handling the plants may increase your chance of finding the insects. Moving the mealybug from infested fields to un-infested fields...

Other than looking for fall armyworms and bermudagrass stem maggots, I have to admit that I have not looked closely at the insects in pastures until this past year. From using a sweep net scouting for armyworms, we know there are many different insects in the field. But until we began looking closer into the grass canopy, I didn't think there was much to see. What we have found is there are more insects feeding on the grass than we knew were there. Some of these include at least three different mealybugs, two aphids, and the predators of these. While our knowledge of these insects in incomplete, it is important to identify what is being found and what could cause damage symptoms in your pastures.  Of the mealybugs, the most concerning is the pasture mealybug, which has been found across much of the southern half of Texas. In addition to this mealybug, the rhodesgrass and bermudagrass mealybugs have been found. Yellow Sugarcane Aphids (Photo by S. Biles) One difference between the p...

 AgriLife Extension Entomology provides weekly or periodic updates from AgriLife IPM Agents on the insect, weed, disease and crop development news affecting crop production. You can find these at the link below: https://www.texasinsects.org/agriculture-audio-updates-home.html The latest updates from this week are here: Cotton Jassid update from Dr. David Kerns and Danielle Sekula: https://on.soundcloud.com/GIEAH0OqbadO2b8feT Corn leafhopper update from Dr. David Kerns: https://on.soundcloud.com/MBCyh8mIqSv7qaRxCO

The online course for the 2026 Auxin applicator training is now available.  Please share with anyone that is interested in taking the course online. Users can access the course at the link below or by searching “auxin training” on AgriLifeLearn.com: 2026 Auxin Specific Applicator Training

We are finding pasture mealybug in most of the pastures that had them last year, and in many others as well. I suggest you check your hay and grazed pastures for the mealybug.  So far this spring, they have been found as far West as Medina, Frio and Gillespie Counties. We went scouting around Victoria and Goliad counties Wednesday, looking at fields where we found them last fall and found some difficult conditions.  Between the mealybug damage from last year and the lack of rainfall over the winter and this spring, many of these fields have poor grass stands and considerable weed problems developing. Pastures should be inspected for weeds and treated as appropriate. In addition, the fields where we did find pasture mealybugs also have symptoms of damage including the red/purple leaves.  When scouting fields, I am checking plants with the symptoms first. I was hoping to spray a test in one of the fields we checked this week, but the grass stands were not consistent and too...

Texans should report storm-related damage to agricultural property, homes, or businesses to the Texas Division of Emergency Management at   damage.tdem.texas.gov .  This is not a replacement for reporting damages to insurance. On this document, select "April-May Severe Weather" and if agricultural damages have been sustained, select "yes" on that box.   This helps officials identify immediate needs for resources/services.   Once those damages are reported to the state, officials can determine whether they meet the federally set thresholds for federal disaster assistance.  Texas can locate severe weather and flooding resources at disaster.texas.gov , or https://agrilifeextension.tamu.edu/assets/environment-natural-resources/disaster-preparedness-recovery/