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Farmers can brush up on soybean gall midge this winter
Growers hope to learn more about an emerging pest over the next several months.
University of Minnesota integrated pest management specialist Bruce Potter says soybean gall midge was first documented in 2015 and has caused damage in South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, and more recently Minnesota and Missouri.
“We’re not sure if its always been there, or if it’s expanding in its range.”
Extension entomologists from several midwestern universities including Minnesota, Iowa State and Nebraska are hosting a three-part discussion series on soybean gall midge beginning in early January.
Potter tells Brownfield growers often confuse crop damage with disease.
“You’ll notice wilting and dead plants, so it’s pretty easy to assume that’s the result of a root rot or some stems pathogens, things like that.”
He says soybean gall midge management remains a bit of a mystery, but there are potential chemical and cultural practices like tillage that show promise.
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