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Stink Bugs in Soybean

By Kelley Tilmon and Andy Michel

There are many species of stink bugs that feed on soybean including brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB), green, red shouldered, and brown stink bugs. Stink bugs injure soybean in the latter half of the season after flowering by feeding on pods and seeds, resulting in lower yields and reductions in seed quality, the latter being a major concern when soybean is grown for seed or food grade purposes. 

Sampling

Sampling: Begin scouting for stink bugs when the soybean plant reaches the R2 stage (full bloom, when the plant has an open flower at one of the two upper-most nodes on the main stem). Stink bug feeding can cause economic loss from the R3 stage (pod set) to the R6 stage (full seed set).  Using a sweep net, sample in at least 5 locations in smaller fields, more in larger fields. Stink bugs tend to be more numerous on field edges so sample hroughout the field for the overall

picture. At each location take a set of 10 sweeps, taking a step with each sweep of the vegetation. Count the number of stink bugs captured in your sweep net for each 10 sweep set. All pest stinkbug species, both adults and nymphs, should be counted together.  Average your counts per set – thresholds range from an average of 2 to 4 stink bugs per 10-swep set based on intended use.

Source : osu.edu

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This is Making Harvest a Pain!

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Harvesting the soybean fields this year feels more like driving our farm equipment through a maze than a field, because of the 13 inches of rain in June and replanted areas. Join me today as I take the reins of the combine and harvest the areas of the fields that are dry. Learn about why we drive around the wet soybeans and the current plan to harvest them. Also, see John Deere's Machine Sync in use between the combine and the grain cart tractor. It's pretty evident that harvesting the soybeans this year is going to take longer than years past because of how much our productivity is lessened due to all the extra turning around and driving in a random fashion.