Field Crops
Learn how to deal with pests—with the weeds, insects, and plant diseases that infest your crops. Each farmer has different problems and different needs and pest management doesn’t exist in a vacuum—it's closely linked with other management decisions on the farm.
Research
Seedcorn Maggot Research
Seed corn maggot, Delia platura (SCM) is a generalist pest of large-seeded crops such as field corn and soybeans in NY. It damages germinating seed, causing significant crop stand losses. Current management practices are based on a single class of chemical pesticides with a high environmental impact. The New York State Integrated Pest Management (NYSIPM) Program and NYS Agriculture and Markets are currently evaluating alternative seed treatments for seedcorn maggot.
Featured Pest
Western bean cutworm
Western bean cutworm (WBC) infestations can cause significant yield losses and may facilitate subsequent colonization by pathogens, furthering damage and impacts. This pest has become an economic issue for many growers. Learn to identify them and distinguish them from similar moths with the identification tools below.
Guide available for purchase from CCE with management information for common insect, disease, and weed pests.
The Environmental Impact Quotient (EIQ) is a formula created to provide growers with data regarding the environmental and health impacts of their pesticide options so they can make better-informed decisions regarding their pesticide selection.
Enhance your integrated pest management (IPM) and crop decision-making with our NEWA forecast tools. Weather stations, primarily located on farms, deliver data to the NEWA website, which displays weather data summaries, crop production tools, and IPM forecasts.
Video Resources
Diagnostic Resources
- Dairy-One Soil Analysis (soil and tissue testing)
- Plant Disease Diagnostic Clinic (Cornell Plant Pathology)
- Insect Diagnostic Lab (Cornell Entomology)
- Extension Botanist, Ed Cope: eac5 [at] cornell.edu, 607-255-0441
- Diagnosing Corn Production Problems in Kansas (pdf)
- (315) 778-8602
- meh27 [at] cornell.edu