Your soybean crop may be off to a great start, recently planted or, in some cases, recently replanted.  For all of us though, the mostly warm and wet weather this year has propelled pests of various kinds ahead of schedule.  This is the first of a three-part series AgVenture is bringing you to outline key soybean issues you should be watching for at this time of the crop year.

Let’s talk about critters first. Several of these will look familiar to you as corn pests also.

White Grub

White Grub

Often found in lighter textured soils, or near lawns, golf courses, and pasture/hay fields.  White grubs are white in color with brownish red heads and will curl up in a C shape. They feed on root hairs causing stunted, low-vigor plants.  White grubs are the larval stage of several beetle species.

Seed Corn Maggot

Seed Corn Maggot

Potentially problematic in early-planted fields or in cool wet periods when germination is delayed. More prevalent in manured fields.  Maggots are cream or tan in color, headless and legless and feed on germinating soybean seeds or seedlings.

Wireworm

Wireworm

Often found in well manured fields or fields with sod in the rotation.  Pale yellow to reddish brown in color, shiny, slender and about an inch long. They bore into the germinating seed or into the base of the seedling plant, killing or weakening it.

Bean Leaf Beetles

Bean leaf beetles are early leaf feeders that are likely already present in your fields and then various hatches keep active throughout the season.  They may be spotted or a solid color and look remarkably similar to Corn Rootworm beetles. Even though their volume of feeding may not make you want to pull the trigger on a spray trip, they do allow a variety of viruses to enter the plant with their chewing activity that can haunt you as the season progresses.

These are a few of the most common ones.  Let us know which insect pests are out there working on your farms!

Part 2 is coming soon with a look at several regularly occurring diseases to be on the lookout for.