University of Missouri Extension recommends alfalfa growers begin scouting their crop for alfalfa weevils now and continue to do so weekly through first harvest.

We have been receiving numerous phone calls about Dectes stem borer in soybean this year. We began seeing large numbers of adults in soybean fields as early as mid-June this year and populations appeared to peak in early- to mid-July. Now we are beginning to receive reports of severe infestations in maturing Group IV and early V soybean fields.

Bags of corn seed that mix genetically modified hybrids with and without Bt toxins that kill insects provide farmers easier compliance with federal regulations but could, over time, hasten insect resistance to Bt, a Purdue University entomologist said.

Corn farmers who might have hoped that a new insect threat would be slowed by this winter's frigid temperatures could be disappointed, says a Purdue University Extension entomologist.

Recent trap monitoring has confirmed that western bean cutworm, a destructive insect that can cause severe yield loss in cornfields, has moved further eastward and has continued to spread into northern areas of Indiana.