–by Dr. Jeff Whitworth
There doesn’t seem to be a lot of pest activity, at least at the present time, in any of the crops throughout north central Kansas. However, there does seem to be a relatively large number of green cloverworms of different stages (see picture)
in both conventionally planted double cropped soybeans. There is enough foliage, however, in all fields that these larvae should not cause any problems, although in some fields they are chewing multiple ragged holes in leaves. There are also a few thistle caterpillars and webworms but again, all defoliators together should not cause enough damage to impact yield. There are also large numbers of potato leafhoppers in both soybeans and alfalfa. They should not cause problems in soybeans. However, they will cause problems in alfalfa if they continue to feed and inject a toxin into the leaves as they do this feeding. Swathing should help mitigate this problem, but monitoring the stubble for leafhoppers should continue to ensure adequate regrowth.