Part 2, Section 2: Corn Pest Management
Corn Pest Management
INSECTS
Selecting a soil insecticide
When selecting a soil insecticide, you first must know which insects are likely to attack your crop in the coming year. Obtain this information by scouting and/or by studying the field's history. See Table 2.1-6 for field characteristics that increase the likelihood of a corn insect species. Table 2.2-24 shows the spectrum of soil insecticide activity on soil insects. Choose the soil insecticide that controls the pests likely to occur in your field.
Selecting a commercially-applied seed treatment or planter box seed treatment
In some situations, one of the newer commercially-applied seed treatments or planter box seed treatment may be preferred over a soil insecticide. (See Table 2.2-25 for spectrums of activity for these newer seed treatments against seed-feeding insects.) In field corn, the primary reason for using a soil insecticide is to protect the crop from corn rootworm injury. Other pests occur much less frequently and under specific cropping patterns. A seed treatment may be a preferred treatment in first-year corn fields that were in pasture or hay the previous year, or when the soil has a naturally high organic matter content. Under these conditions, seed corn maggot and/or wireworm can cause stand reductions. Several seed treatment products provide control equal to a soil insecticide for these two pests at a much lower cost per acre.
Foliar feeding insects such as black cutworm, true armyworm, stalk borer, sod webworm, flea beetle, and billbugs are best controlled with pre- and postemergent applications of a foliar insecticide.