Focus on grasshoppers continues: Crop Pest Update

Jul 08, 2022

Summary

Insects: Grasshopper monitoring and management continues. Levels of pea aphids at or over the economic threshold have been found in some pea fields that are starting to flower in the Central region.

Levels of barley thrips around threshold have been reported from some barley fields. Lots of blister beetles are being noticed, including some of the species that when they are juveniles specialize in eating grasshopper eggs.

Flea beetle insecticide applications have wrapped up, as most fields are now past the susceptible stages.

Weeds: Sprayers kept rolling over this last week doing a good job of keeping up with weed control.

We are close to finishing up all herbicide applications, with late-seeded canola crops still needing spraying and second pass glyphosate applications going on corn and soybeans. Wet fields have been challenging to drive in, ruts and stuck sprayers have been seen across the province.

Generally weed control has been very good, though some glufosinate applications did not seem to work well, warranting respraying. This was a difficult situation given the tight glufosinate supplies.

Click here to see more...

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.