The Pennsylvania Soybean Promotion board sponsoring the discovery of valuable crop management information for producers across Pennsylvania in an effort to improve the production and use of the commodity.
Similar to the past few growing seasons, again this year The Pennsylvania Soybean Promotion Board is funding a Soybean Sentinel Plot Program, which is being managed by Penn State Extension and The Dept. of Entomology at Penn State. In this effort, Penn State Extension Educators are regularly scouting twenty-two ‘typical’ soybean fields in sixteen counties across the state, reporting the populations of plant pathogens and insect pests that they find.
Reports from the past week indicate that there is a lot of variability in soybeans planting dates, and some fields have yet to be planted. With this in mind, insect and disease populations are low thus far. We have found and heard of low bean leaf beetle populations, which is not too surprising given the hard winter, but the beetles are active and their feeding is evident, particularly in untreated soybeans. While many parts of the state seem to have good conditions for slugs, I have only received a few reports of damaging slugs—if your area is wet, keep an eye out for this pest species. No diseases have been reported yet.
In the reports below, pests that were found during scouting are listed with their severity, which is rated on a 1-10 scale with 10 being the highest. Growers should be sure to check their own fields to determine your local populations, but these reports will give you a sense of what pests are active in fields.
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