Lexington, KY 40546

Online at: www.uky.edu/KPN

Number 1288
ANNOUNCEMENT -New Publication CORN -Corn Seed Treatment for Nematodes

November 1, 2011
SOYBEAN -Western Corn Rootworm Soybean Variant Surveillance in Kentucky, 2011

ANNOUNCEMENT New Publication By Cheryl Kaiser A new publication, Foliar Fungicide Use in Corn and Soybean (PPFS-MISC-05), is now available at http://www.ca.uky.edu/agcollege/plantpathology/e xt_files/PPFShtml/PPFS-MISC-5.pdf. It can also be accessed via the publications page of the Plant Pathology Extension Web site. The authors are Drs. Donald Hershman and Paul Vincelli, Extension Plant Pathologists. This fact sheet discusses the use of fungicides for controlling various corn and soybean diseases, the importance of making a disease risk assessment, and the potential for negative impacts of unnecessary fungicide applications. In addition, recent plant health claims made by some fungicide manufacturers are addressed.

Avicta products These include Avicta Duo and Avicta Complete Corn seed treatment. The nematicidal active ingredient in these products is abamectin. Both products also contain an insecticide, and Avicta Complete Corn also contains a fungicide. Based on the available published data, performance of Avicta against nematodes in corn and other field crops is erratic. In the majority of tests, Avicta provided no statistically significant reduction in nematode numbers or in crop performance. However, in some tests, abamectin does indeed provide a statistically significant reduction in nematode number or reproduction, and sometimes this results in improved crop performance (improved root weight, increased yield). Also, in some tests, Avicta Complete Corn improves crop performance not from nematode control, but from the insecticide/fungicide component. VOTiVO products The nematicidal active ingredient in VOTiVO products is a bacterium called Bacillus firmus. Bacillus firmus is not a chemical poison, but rather is a bacterium that forms a protective barrier that may repel nematodes. It is currently sold only in a premix as Poncho/VOTiVO, which also contains an insecticide. There are very few published studies on performance of Bacillus firmus. Those that are available suggest results are very erratic.

CORN Corn Seed Treatment for Nematodes By Paul Vincelli This article provides a short review of nematicidal seed treatments for corn. Nematodes are microscopic roundworms that attack roots of the corn plant (Fig 1). There are two products currently on the market:

Figure 1. "Head" of nematode, showing the spear-like stylet (arrow) that it uses to puncture plant cells.

Are nematicide seed treatments worth using? There isnt a clear-cut answer. Here are some things to consider: Soil populations of nematodes in Kentucky vary greatly from field to field (see Figure 2, for an example). So it is hard to know which fields have the greatest threat from nematodes unless the fields are sampled every year or two, which most producers arent doing. Nematodes are a greater risk in sandy soils. Since Kentucky soils are generally not sandy, we dont have as much risk as some regions of the USA. There still is risk, just not as much as in sandy soils. These seed-treatment nematicides perform erratically, and they are certainly not cheap.

Case Study: Scott County, 2011 I visited several corn fields this past season with very dramatic plant-to-plant differences in plant health: some plants were healthy-green and kneehigh, others were chlorotic and severely stunted, and others were in-between. Careful inspection and follow-up lab work revealed a complex of stresses: 1. Fusarium rot of the mesocotyl, severing the plants connection to the seedling root system (Fig. 3). This forces the seedling to rely prematurely on an underdeveloped nodal root system. 2. Temporary drought stress soon after crop emergence. 3. Some temporary zinc deficiency early in crop growth. 4. Low numbers of endoparasitic nematodes in the roots of healthy plants, at least 2X higher numbers in the sick plants. The nematode numbers alone were not enough to cause significant crop loss in a healthy, growing crop, according to available nematode thresholds for corn. However, in this case, it seemed reasonable to conclude that the nematodes may have been a factor. Fusarium rot of mesocotyl tissue is a destructive disease, but its presence usually suggests that one or more early season stresses were present. Zinc deficiency is obviously a candidate, but so are the nematodes, and they may have worked together to stress the plants and allow Fusarium to attack. Once Fusarium caused the mesocotyl rot and cut off the seedling root system, a temporary drought caused dramatic stunting in the sick plants but had little effect on plants with a healthy mesocotyl and root system.

Figure 2. Range of populations of lance nematode in 33 Kentucky corn fields sampled in 2009.

SOYBEAN Western Corn Rootworm Soybean Variant Surveillance in Kentucky, 2011 By Ric Bessin, Doug Johnson, Jerry Brown, Myron Evans, David Fourqurean, Clint Hardy, Carla Harper, Darian Irvan, Darrell Jones, Cam Kenimer, Philip Konopka, Tom Miller, Andy Mills, Traci Missun, and Diane Perkins This past summer we worked with county agents in thirteen counties (Ballard, Boone, Carlisle, Carter, Daviess, Fulton, Hancock, Hickman, Lewis, Livingston, Meade, Oldham, Trigg) to monitor soybean fields for the soybean variant of the western corn rootworm that is has become the major corn pest in states to our north. This is similar to our survey last year, but we included four additional counties and lost one county with a retirement of an agent. We surveyed for the western corn rootworm beetle variant that moves out of corn and into soybeans to lay its eggs. Agents that placed yellow sticky cards placed in several soybeans fields in each county found extremely low numbers of western corn rootworm beetles during a four-week period in the midsummer. These results are consistent with what we observed last year, with very low western corn rootworm levels in soybeans. That means we did not find any evidence that the soybean variant is a problem. In fact the results this year are even lower (eg. better) than what we saw last year!

Figure 3. Rotted mesocotyl (arrow), cutting off the seedling root system emerging from the kernel (Photo: Alison Robertson, Iowa State University).

Would a nematicide seed treatment have helped in this case? No one can say for sure. But it might have. Even reducing one of these stresses might have been enough to keep the Fusarium from attacking, allowing the plants to tolerate the temporary drought conditions. Conclusion My experience in Scott County this year makes me more open to the possibility that a nematicidal seed treatment might occasionally be beneficial in corn, particularly if multiple stresses occur during stand establishment. However, this is not a blanket endorsement for widespread use of these products. I expect cases like Scott County to be the exception, rather than the rule. Producers who are considering these products will improve their chances of getting a profitable return by using them in fields where soil samples show moderate to high nematode counts. So there still is value in sampling for nematodes. Finally, there are quite a bit more public data on performance of Avicta than VOTiVO, so users of Avicta have a more solid research base for using the product.

Figure 4. Western corn rootworm pupae, larvae and root damage.

The western corn rootworm is considered one of our billion dollar pest due to the damage it causes and the cost of resources used to control it. Typically, most western corn rootworms remain in corn after they emerge in early to late July. In Kentucky they mate and the females lay their eggs at the bases of corn stalks. The eggs then hatch the following spring and the young larvae are only able to move a short distance (less than a meter) to find corn roots to feed on. Normally only a very small percentage of the population moves out of corn and into soybean fields. Because of this and the use of crop rotation, western corn rootworm problems in Kentucky have been restricted to fields that have been left in corn for several years.

require action. This year beetles were only trapped in one county in northern KY (Boone), all other counties found no beetles in their soybean fields. What this means for our corn producers is that corn following soybeans is a little risk to western corn rootworms. While corn that follows corn is still at potential risk to rootworm attack, simply rotating corn and soybeans, or corn/wheat/soybeans will effectively manage western and northern corn rootworms in Kentucky. In states to our north where the western corn rootworm variant is a problem, growers may need to manage this serious pest with rotated corn as well as continuous corn.

Figure 5. Western corn rootworm adult female.

Recently a biotype was discovered in Illinois and Indiana where a substantial proportion of the population moved to soybeans to lay their eggs. The result being that first-year corn in these areas is at risk to economic levels of root damage by rootworms. This biotype is called the soybean variant of the western corn rootworm. Since this initial discovery it has spread rapidly to the north east into Michigan and eastward into Ohio. Movement to the south has been relatively slow. This summer the county agents placed yellow sticky cards in several soybeans fields in each of these counties and checked those cards weekly. Last year we discovered that although we can detect the beetles in soybean fields along the Ohio River, levels are far below those that would

Note: Trade names are used to simplify the information presented in this newsletter. No endorsement by the Cooperative Extension Service is intended, nor is criticism implied of similar products that are not named.