Corn Earworm
A cold front will continue to move southeast over the next 24 hours but eventually it is expected to dissipate as a new low pressure develops across the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. Still, enough south to southwest winds are expected east and southeast of the front and from a favorable mid-south source region, so Moderate migration risks remain in the forecast across portions of eastern Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, northwest Ohio, and into southern lower Michigan tonight into tomorrow. After midday tomorrow, focus returns once again to the Plains and western corn-growing region as southerly winds increase in that area. Low risks are in the forecast mainly along/south of I-90 tomorrow night into Thursday, and do expand northward a little bit into South Dakota and Minnesota by late week. There are some uncertainties as we head into next weekend, with some longer-range sources keeping any southerly winds mainly across the southwestern portion of the corn-growing region and cooler weather on northeast or easterly winds across much of the Great Lakes, while others are pumping southerly winds across much of the corn-growing region. At this time of year, either solution is possible but for purposes of this forecast, we are keeping a middle-of-the-road approach and keeping much of the migration risk across the southwestern half to two-thirds of the corn-growing region until clarity is better in a few days. Regardless, growers with crops at susceptible stages to corn earworm damage, especially fresh market and processing crops that were intentionally planted later, should continue active scouting and trap monitoring until harvest.

