Wet, wet, wet weather, has significantly delayed planting this spring making producers anxious. Late corn and soybean planting can significantly impact yield, of course, but also the spectrum of insects that may cause damage to the late planted crop. In field corn, black cutworm damage should be a specific concern to growers because of delayed planting.

University of Illinois Extension Entomologist Dr. Kevin Steffey notes that black cutworm should cause the most imminent concern to producers when corn is planted late. And while producers may have the expectation that the chloronicotinyl seed treatments (Cruiser, Poncho) and transgenic Bt corn with traits for control of caterpillars will prevent injury caused by black cutworms in field, observation is still necessary. Steffey relates that when infestations of black cutworm larvae are heavy, at least some injury can be expected regardless of preventive control measures, and some injury may be severe. The bottom line is to not forget to scout and make observations of efficacy of your cutworm management preseason choices.

Our statewide trapping program has provided data showing black cutworm males have been captured fairly continuously over the past three weeks in several pheromone traps that are monitored in Illinois, and continuous captures of male moths have been reported in neighboring states, too. This sets the stage for a significant population for us.

Delay in planting is not the only issue this season, it is extremely wet as well and all that water out there negatively impacts some of our endemic pests. Heavy rains early in the season can devastate the corn rootworm population, as it turns out they are not good swimmers. And for our area of the state, that's good news. Additionally, if we continue to see stormy weather, first generation European corn borer moth populations can be significantly decreased by early summer storms when they are in flight.

As for the soybeans, one of the first insect pests to consider after planting is the bean leaf beetle. On two fronts damage from this pest may be less severe early this season. First, we had a long cold winter. The bean leaf beetle survives as an adult in plant debris particularly in wooded areas over the winter. Very cold winter temperatures can negatively affect their surviving population. When the survivors do wake up in the spring they are hungry. Bean leaf beetles are already out flying around in the area. Normally I would caution those who have early planted soybeans to be especially alert to damage if they are the first planted in an area since early planted soybeans are at the most risk for damage from this pest. Particularly early-planted soybean fields near wooded areas are at risk from beetle feeding. However, I can delay that cautionary note for the time being given our current weather patterns. When the fields do dry out, as they inevitably will, stay safe during planting.