Soybean aphid control with seed-applied insecticides
Editor’s note: This article is from the archives of the MSU Crop Advisory Team Alerts. Check the label of any pesticide referenced to ensure your use is included.
Seed treatment insecticides such as Cruiser and Gaucho have been marketed for early season soybean aphid and bean leaf beetle control. Results from two years of performance trials conducted in Michigan indicate that soybean yield response to these seed-applied insecticides depends primarily upon the aphid pressure experienced during the early growing season.
In
2004, when aphid pressure was light, the soybean yield response to
Cruiser and Gaucho averaged just under 1 bushel per acre over six
locations across the state. Conversely, in 2005, with heavy early season
aphid pressure, yield response to these seed applied insecticides
averaged 6 bushel per acre across four Michigan locations. Results of
the 2005 trials showed there was early season suppression of aphid
populations through the R1 (flowering) growth stage. However, as aphid
pressure increased over the growing season, the level of population
suppression seen by the seed-applied insecticide treatments decreased
significantly.
Based on this data, it appears unlikely that an insecticide seed
treatment would keep aphids from reaching economic threshold and prevent
the need for a foliar-applied insecticide application during a heavy
aphid pressure year. However, some yield benefit may be gained if early
season aphid pressure is high.
Late summer scouting in 2005 and early season scouting this
spring suggests that aphid levels may be down in 2006 throughout most of
the state. However, some areas, especially those with nearby Buckthorn
infestations, which serve as the overwintering host for the aphid, may
experience high localized soybean aphid populations. In deciding whether
to invest in these insecticidal soybean seed treatments, it is
important to assess expected early season aphid pressure and weigh that
against the cost of the product.