Western Bean Cutworm
Western bean cutworm moths continue to emerge in the usual “hot spot” areas of the corn-growing region, including the central Plains from far northern Kansas into Nebraska and northeast Colorado, and also in the Great Lakes region from central Indiana and northwest Ohio northward into southern lower Michigan, southern Ontario, Canada, and also in Wisconsin. The flight is just underway so only Low risks are in place in these areas, but upgrades to the risk are likely next week especially in the central Plains where the corn crop is a little further along and where additional moth emergence and egg laying will likely intensify enough to justify a risk upgrade by that time. In the meantime, growers should be monitoring traps and scouting fields, looking for egg masses on leaves and thinking about potential preventative/treatment measures if populations are present in the not too distant future.