Cotton Insect Newsletter Vol. 19, No. 15, August 22, 2001 Call 1-877-629-1474 for Cotton Insect Hotline

Cotton Situation:  This cotton growing season is winding down quickly.  Much of the early-planted cotton has about done all it's going to do.  We received a little rain last week, but it was too little and too late for most of our cotton at the PDREC.  Most of the cotton planted after wheat in the Pee Dee area looks good from the highway, but I could only find about one boll per plant that was quarter-sized or larger.  Cotton Insect Situation:  Bollworm moth counts in pheromone traps have been fairly low this week in the Pee Dee area.  Mike Sullivan said this morning that they were seeing some increases in bollworm moth numbers in the Savannah Valley, and they saw really large numbers of eggs (1000+/100 plants) in some bollworm control plots.  Apparently, those cotton plants were about the only thing that was attracting the moths in that area. Mike said that they were not seeing any beet armyworms and that the fall armyworm he saw a few days ago in a bloom was the only one that he had seen all year.  Ditto for us above the lakes, there have only been a few observations of fall armyworms, and some beet armyworm damage in one field in Dillon County so far.   Loopers have shown up in a few fields, but there have been few situations that required chemical intervention. Stink bugs will continue to demand some attention for the next couple of weeks in cotton that is still putting on bolls.  Strangely enough, I didn't see any problems this week with stink bugs in the cotton planted in June.  One would certainly expect that stink bugs would be attracted to these fields. Cotton Tours:  You are invited to attend guided tours of Clemson University's cotton research plots at the Edisto REC and the Pee Dee REC.  On September 6, there will be a Cotton and Soybean Tour at the EREC leaving from the administrative building at 1:15 pm.   There will be information presented on cotton insect pest management by Mike Sullivan.  Mike Jones will be on hand to discuss progress in seed-rot research.  Cotton weed control and weed control in wildlife food plots will be presented by Ed Murdock.  Also view the State Cotton Variety Trials managed by Dewey Barfield.  On September 13, the Fourth Annual Cropping Systems Field Day will be held at the PDREC.  The first wagons will leave from in front of the administrative building at 8:00 am and a second tour will follow at about 8:45.   From the wagons, you will obtain the latest information about cotton insect pest management trials (M. Roof); hail studies, UNR tests, seed rot/variety trials, skip-row cotton, uniform defoliation trials, and plant-growth regulator and harvest-aid studies (M. Jones); weed control in cotton, soybeans and wildlife food plots (E. Murdock); Bollgard cotton (D. Pitts) and other topics.   In the afternoon, we will adjourn to the auditorium, where it should be cooler, to hear a discussion of the New Farm Bill by Hal Harris, the Marketing Outlook by Charles Curtis and several other interesting topics by some excellent speakers.  Next week, I will include the complete program for both locations.  Later in September there will be two Center of Excellence Conservation Tillage Field Days held: one in Lee County and one in Calhoun County.   On September 26, a COE Field Day will be conducted at the Hayne Haigler Farms, Cameron, SC.   Charles Davis will be the Extension Agent in charge.  On September 27, a COE Field Day will be held at Buck Farms, Bishopville, SC, where Randy Cubbage will be the Extension Agent in charge. Programs for the COE Field Days will be similar at the two locations.   They will start out with a panel of farmers discussing their experiences with conservation tillage.  This will be followed by tours of conservation tillage in action, with discussions by John Bradley, Monsanto Conservation Tillage Specialist and Clemson University Extension Specialists.  Equipment used in conservation tillage will be on display at both locations.   Boll Weevil Containment:  Well, it's that time of year again when we all tend to get a little lax about insect pests and we kind of forget how important the little boll weevil trap can be to SC cotton farmers.  If there are any boll weevils around, they will certainly be on the move right now.  Females will be full of eggs and they will be looking for a place to deposit them.  They will be looking for cotton that has some squares in the terminals that are about the size of a pencil eraser.  Eggs will be laid in the squares, the squares will fall on the ground and adult boll weevils will emerge.  If there are no traps around to intervene, these adults will find overwintering habitat without being discovered this year.  Next year, they could become established in several fields before the “spring traps” intercept them.  Let's prevent this from happening for the good of all cotton farmers.  Let them live and let them work (the traps that is).  If you see a field with no traps, alert the boll weevil workers at 1-800-269-9928.  If you see a trap down, please dust it off and set it up again.  If you are contemplating bringing in any used equipment, please make sure that it has been inspected and fumigated to kill boll weevils at the point of origination.  One female hitchhiker with eggs riding over to SC in a module builder.....and you know the rest of the story.   Mitchell Roof  Extension Entomologist

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