We regularly update the Insect Pest Management guides to help producers manage insect populations for a variety of crops. Inside each guide is the best available methods proven to be practical under Kansas conditions. We have updated guides for wheat, alfalfa, sunflower, cotton, corn, sorghum and soybean.
Continue reading “Updated Kansas Crop Insect Pest Management for 2025”
— Anthony Zukoff—Southwest Research and Extension Center – Garden City, KS
Alfalfa is off and growing in most areas of the state, so now would be a good time to review the various species of aphids that can be found in the crop. Knowing how to recognize aphids and their damage, along with understanding their thresholds is important for making proper management decisions.
Start monitoring alfalfa weevils using degree days and scouting
Degree day accumulations for Kansas alfalfa weevils are well ahead of normal for the entire state this year (Table 1). A similar trend occurred in 2024. As air temperatures continue to increase, It is recommended that scouting for weevil activity should be occurring right now in all regions of the state. Continue reading “Alfalfa Weevil Degree Day Status”
by Jeff Whitworth — Field Crop Entomologist
Garden webworms (fig. 2) have just about finished feeding on soybeans and/or alfalfa (where they have been much less noticeable). They will pupate in the soil for the next 4-7 days then the moths will emerge to start depositing eggs in acceptable host plants. From a crop perspective this time of year, hopefully they will have little impact as the soybeans have developed far enough that these worms won’t defoliate enough to affect yield. But the really late-planted soybeans or those that may be moisture stressed may still have some concern, so monitoring should include these defoliators starting soon.
Figure 2: Garden webworm mature larva (picture by Steve Freach)
–by Jeff Whitworth — Field Crops, Entomology
The 1st potato leafhoppers were detected in northcentral Kansas on 10 June, but probably started immigrating in a few days prior to that. They will continue this immigration for about another month. As of 14 June, however, only adults were active (see fig 1) but they are depositing eggs which hatch into very tiny nymphs in approximately 4-7 days. Much alfalfa, however, has just been swathed, or soon will be, and this will help mitigate potato leafhopper damage by removing eggs/nymphs before they cause any damage (see fig 2-often called “hopper burn”). However, adults will continue to migrate into these fields- so monitoring should continue as the new growth emerges.
Figure 1. Adult potato leafhoppers
Figure 2. Hopper burn