Plenty Of Leaf-eaters Around To Challenge Alfalfa, Corn Crops

By Farm Progress Kansas Farmer

Hot, wet weather like Kansas has seen for the last month is good for plant growth. But it also helps pests flourish and evidence of that abounds in corn and alfalfa fields across Kansas.

Kansas State University and Extension crop specialists are observing insect pests currently in Kansas, including potato leafhoppers, green clover worms, fall armyworms and corn rootworms, says K-State associate professor of entomology and pest management extension specialist Jeff Whitworth.

Alfalfa

Potato leafhoppers have been observed in north-central and south-central Kansas since May, about a month earlier than the pests would normally be seen, Whitworth said.

Potato leafhoppers usually don’t spend the winter in Kansas and will migrate back between the first and second alfalfa cutting, but this year they’ve been present since before the first cutting, he said. Early mild and later cool temperatures throughout the winter and spring played a role in the difference.