— Written By Jeremy Slone and last updated by Carol Hicks

Similar to recent weeks, we are still in a bit of a midsummer lull for pest pressure. However, we still have weeks to go, and a lot can change in that time. Below are a few points of interest from the week.

Although we haven’t seen aphids at any of our on-farm sites, we are seeing heavy infestations at the Oxford Tobacco Research Station. Our project there focuses on tobacco production for use in biofuel manufacture, and this week we had to made a foliar treatment of Admire Pro to help control these aphids. The active ingredients used on hornworms and budworms are not as effective for aphids, so selecting the proper chemical for treatment is very important.

Several sites have already started harvesting and are done with the first priming. We collect leaves by hand from 100 plants throughout the field to measure differences in green leaf weight between our IPM and standard fields. The goal is to see if fewer pesticide applications, characteristic of an IPM program, will have an effect on yield. We also collect samples to determine differences in pesticide residues.

Lastly, I wanted to show an image of potentially diseased plants. It may be important for a grower to investigate what pathogens are present in the field now to help with identification or plant rotation schedules in the future. Better, more detailed information on a given field and it’s history can help to plan rotations such that pest pressure and disease can be limited as much as possible. This may also help to reduce the need for preventative or remedial chemical treatments.

Eastern 1

Scouting Report, Eastern 1 – Grower Standard Field

Insect observation	No. aphid infested plants	Flea beetles  per plant	Percent tobacco budworm infested plants	Hornworms per plant	Percent cutworm damaged plants	Other insects
Treatment needed?	0 – No treatment	1.12 flea beetles/plant– No treatment	6% infested – No treatment	12% – Req treatment	0 – No treatment

Scouting Report, Eastern 1 – IPM Field

Insect observation	No. aphid infested plants	Flea beetles  per plant	Percent tobacco budworm infested plants	Hornworms per plant	Percent cutworm damaged plants	Other insects
Treatment needed?	0 – No treatment	0.87  flea beetles/plant– No treatment	6% infested – No treatment	6% – No treatment	0 – No treatment

Eastern 2

Scouting Report, Eastern 2 – Grower Standard Field

Insect observation	No. aphid infested plants	Flea beetles  per plant	Percent tobacco budworm infested plants	Hornworms per plant	Percent cutworm damaged plants	Other insects
Treatment needed?	0 – No treatment	0.18 flea beetles/plant– No treatment	0% infested – No treatment	0 – No treatment	0 – No treatment

Scouting Report, Eastern 2 – IPM Field

Insect observation	No. aphid infested plants	Flea beetles  per plant	Percent tobacco budworm infested plants	Hornworms per plant	Percent cutworm damaged plants	Other insects
Treatment needed?	0 – No treatment	0.26 flea beetles/plant– No treatment	0% infested – No treatment	0 – No treatment	0 – No treatment

Eastern 3

Scouting Report, Eastern 3 – Grower Standard Field

Insect observation	No. aphid infested plants	Flea beetles  per plant	Percent tobacco budworm infested plants	Hornworms per plant	Percent cutworm damaged plants	Other insects
Treatment needed?	0 – No treatment	0.96 flea beetles/plant– No treatment	0% infested – No treatment	10% – Req treatment	0 – No treatment

Scouting Report, Eastern 3 – IPM Field

Insect observation	No. aphid infested plants	Flea beetles  per plant	Percent tobacco budworm infested plants	Hornworms per plant	Percent cutworm damaged plants	Other insects
Treatment needed?	0 – No treatment	1.12 flea beetles/plant– No treatment	0% infested – No treatment	0% – No treatment	0 – No treatment

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Piedmont 1

Scouting Report, Piedmont 1 – Grower Standard Field

Insect observation	No. aphid infested plants	Flea beetles  per plant	Percent tobacco budworm infested plants	Hornworms per plant	Percent cutworm damaged plants	Other insects
Treatment needed?	0 – No treatment	1.3 flea beetles/plant– No treatment	0% infested – No treatment	0 – No treatment	0 – No treatment

Scouting Report, Piedmont 1 – IPM Field

Insect observation	No. aphid infested plants	Flea beetles  per plant	Percent tobacco budworm infested plants	Hornworms per plant	Percent cutworm damaged plants	Other insects
Treatment needed?	0 – No treatment	3.2 flea beetles/plant– No treatment	0% infested – No treatment	4% – No treatment	0 – No treatment

Piedmont 2

Scouting Report, Piedmont 2 – Grower Standard Field

Insect observation	No. aphid infested plants	Flea beetles  per plant	Percent tobacco budworm infested plants	Hornworms per plant	Percent cutworm damaged plants	Other insects
Treatment needed?	0 – No treatment	0.64 flea beetles/plant– No treatment	4% infested – No treatment	8% – No treatment	0 – No treatment

Scouting Report, Piedmont 2 – IPM Field

Insect observation	No. aphid infested plants	Flea beetles  per plant	Percent tobacco budworm infested plants	Hornworms per plant	Percent cutworm damaged plants	Other insects
Treatment needed?	0 – No treatment	0.44 flea beetles/plant– No treatment	4% infested – No treatment	2%  – No treatment	0 – No treatment

Piedmont 3

Scouting Report, Piedmont 3– Grower Standard Field

Insect observation	No. aphid infested plants	Flea beetles  per plant	Percent tobacco budworm infested plants	Hornworms per plant	Percent cutworm damaged plants	Other insects
Treatment needed?	0 – No treatment	0.32 flea beetles/plant– No treatment	0% infested – No treatment	2% – No treatment	0 – No treatment

Scouting Report, Piedmont 3 – IPM Field

Insect observation	No. aphid infested plants	Flea beetles  per plant	Percent tobacco budworm infested plants	Hornworms per plant	Percent cutworm damaged plants	Other insects
Treatment needed?	0 – No treatment	0.67  flea beetles/plant– No treatment	0% infested – No treatment	3% – No treatment	0 – No treatment

More information

Tobacco insect scouting methods – Tobacco Growers Information Portal

Previous scouting reports – Tobacco pest information