MN Fruit & Vegetable IPM News - Vol. 1, No. 4

This spring, I am helping five strawberry growers throughout Minnesota implement integrated pest management practices that were outlined in the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s publication: Integrated Pest Management Manual for Minnesota Strawberry Fields. The growers agreed to participate in the project have farms in Hastings, Monticello, Wadena, Hinckley, and Grand Rapids. The majority of participants consider themselves to be conventional farmers, but they are all interested in decreasing their pesticide use.

Each participant has learned how to identify both adult and nymph tarnished plant bugs, and must monitor each of their fields every two days during bloom. They have agreed to spray insecticides only when economic thresholds are exceeded. By monitoring, we will know what stage of the lifecycle the bugs are at during bloom. The tarnished plant bug’s lifecycle does not always correspond to strawberry blossom time. As Suzanne Wold pointed out in the May 17 newsletter, the overwintering adults fly into the field and lay their eggs. Sometimes there is a two week period when there are no tarnished plant bugs in the fields because the adults have died, but the new generation has not yet hatched into nymphs. Insecticide sprays must always be timed to damage the bugs when they are most vulnerable.

By monitoring tarnished plant bugs in five different locations, we will be able to see if their lifecycle varies in different parts of the state, and if the bug populations vary among fields within the same farm. There is evidence that fields with weedy borders may have more bugs than fields bordered by closely mown grass. So far we have found almost no adults using yellow sticky traps. At this time, we don’t know if there are no tarnished plant bugs in the fields or if the sticky traps were placed in the fields too late. In the two metro area fields, both adult and first instar nymphs were found at the same time.

Participants are also monitoring for clipper weevil, thrips, spittle bugs and other insects that may show up in their fields.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Co-Editors: Bill Hutchison, Department of Entomology, University of Minnesota, hutch002@umn.edu
Jeanne Ciborowski, Minnesota Department of Agriculture, Ag. Resources Division,jeanne.ciborowski@state.mn.us
Suzanne Wold-Burkness, Department of Entomology, University of Minnesota, woldx018@umn.edu

The Newsletter is published weekly from May through August, cooperatively, by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) and the University of Minnesota (U of MN). Reports are posted on the U of MN and MDA web sites on Fridays. If you have suggestions and/or comments, please send your contributions by 4 p.m., Tuesday to Jeanne Ciborowski, 651-297-3217, jeanne.ciborowski@state.mn.us , MDA, 90 W. Plato Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55107-2094. You can access the Newsletter at the U of MN web site in htm. format at: www.vegedge.umn.edu/MNFruit&VegNews/mnindex.htm and at the MDA web site in pdf. format at: www.mda.state.mn.us/biocon/fruitreports/default.htm

Partial funding for this publication is provided through partnership agreements with the Minnesota Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association and the United States Department of Agriculture – Risk Management Agency (RMA) and the RMA Community Outreach and Assistance Partnership Program. These institutions are equal opportunity providers.

DISCLAIMER

References to products in this publication is not intended to be an endorsement to the exclusion of others which may have similar uses. Any person using products listed in this publication assumes full responsibility for their use in accordance with current manufacturer directions.

Last Revised May 27, 2004.
The University, including the Minnesota Extension Service, is an equal opportunity educator and employer. ©1999-2004 Minnesota Extension Service, University of Minnesota. All rights reserved. Contact copyright@extension.umn.edu for information on reproduction or use of this material.