Ohio growers should be scouting their fields on a weekly basis to assess the level of populations and subsequent damage from a myriad of pests now making an appearance in corn and soybean fields.

“IPM (Integrated Pest Management) recommendations include growers scout their fields weekly from emergence to harvest,” said Ron Hammond, an Ohio State University research entomologist with the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center. “This is a normal time of year for us for pests, but one concern we have right now is the cool, wet weather that has slowed crop emergence and increased the susceptiblility to injury.”

The biggest threat is feeding from juvenile slugs, which have already damaged some no-till crop fields in southern Ohio, and are beginning to feed in fields throughout northern Ohio. The longer it takes from plants to emerge from the soil and begin growing, the more susceptible to feeding injury they become.

“With the cold, wet weather we had the last two weeks, the crops just aren’t growing as well,” said Hammond. “We are hoping for dry, warm weather so that these crops can really take off. Who will win out at this point in time—the slugs or the crops?”

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