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Minnesota entomologist lays out industry challenges.

Tom Bechman 1, Editor, Indiana Prairie Farm

January 4, 2012

2 Min Read

John Obermeyer and others in charge of selecting speakers for the Indiana Certified Crop Advisor conference in Indianapolis decided that while the breakdown in control of corn rootworm by one specific genetic trait wasn't an issue in Indiana, it was raising enough questions and issues industry-wide that they should address it. "It's not a problem here now," says Obermeyer, Purdue University Extension entomologist, "But the issues are relevant to other issues related to traits. We wanted to bring everyone up to date on what was occurring in some western and northern states."

The most celebrated outbreak has been in Iowa, Where an Iowa State researcher has documented failure of a certain genetic event to control corn rootworm larvae over the past few seasons. The same problem has now been identified in parts of Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska and perhaps one corner of Wisconsin.

Ken Ostlie from the University of Minnesota has seen the problem in farmer fields, and even conducted trials to try to help determine exactly what was happening. He made several important points during the conference.

First, technically, according to EPA language, the manufactures can make a case that technically, at least, resistance has not been proven. He notes, however, that it's obvious to experts that the break in control falls somewhere on the tolerant to resistant scale on the part of the insect.

Second, so far the problem is limited to western corn rootworms. Ostlie is holding his breath that it doesn't show up in northern corn rootworms, which would be a problem in his area. The species that affects Indiana fields is the western corn rootworm.

To be more specific, so far it has shown up in western corn rootworms which don't display the variant trait that allows them to lay eggs in soybeans fields, resulting in corn rootworm problems in first year corn. Until that developed in the 1990s, crop rotation was a fairly surefire way of preventing rootworm problems. Just because it hasn't been documented in the soybean variant yet doesn't mean it won't happen, but it's something to watch closely.

Third, where farmers have seen the [problem in the states where it has occurred, they need to take action to avoid the problem, Ostlie says. It has typically been most prevalent ion continuous corn fields where continuous exposure to the same genetics has occurred year after year. One option is rotation to soybeans, although that may n to work for everyone.

Another option is to switch to an event that still controls the rootworm, such as SmartStax. However, if you do that, he notes, you basically are back to one mode of action, that coming from the Herculex portion, if the other portion isn't providing control. The other option is to stay begin applying soil insecticides once again.

About the Author(s)

Tom Bechman 1

Editor, Indiana Prairie Farm

Tom Bechman is an important cog in the Farm Progress machinery. In addition to serving as editor of Indiana Prairie Farmer, Tom is nationally known for his coverage of Midwest agronomy, conservation, no-till farming, farm management, farm safety, high-tech farming and personal property tax relief. His byline appears monthly in many of the 18 state and regional farm magazines published by Farm Progress.

"I consider it my responsibility and opportunity as a farm magazine editor to supply useful information that will help today's farm families survive and thrive," the veteran editor says.

Tom graduated from Whiteland (Ind.) High School, earned his B.S. in animal science and agricultural education from Purdue University in 1975 and an M.S. in dairy nutrition two years later. He first joined the magazine as a field editor in 1981 after four years as a vocational agriculture teacher.

Tom enjoys interacting with farm families, university specialists and industry leaders, gathering and sifting through loads of information available in agriculture today. "Whenever I find a new idea or a new thought that could either improve someone's life or their income, I consider it a personal challenge to discover how to present it in the most useful form, " he says.

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