Read and follow all label requirements for insecticides.
Soybean: Continue checking for defoliators, such as bean leaf beetle, Japanese beetle, grasshoppers, and caterpillars. Control may be needed if there is 15% defoliation on plants from bloom through pod fill. As we move into the heat of the summer, keep an eye out on your aphid population, which may increase quickly. The summer generation of soybean podworms are emerging. Fields next to maturing corn, have open canopies, are drought-stressed, or have recently had insecticide applied are at high risk for podworms. While worm feeding on flowers will not impact yields, feeding during pod development can. North Carolina State University has a great economic threshold calculator (https://soybeans.ces.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/CEW-calculator-v0.006.html) .
Alfalfa: Continue scouting for leafhopper and blister beetles.
Sorghum: Sugarcane aphids showed up in fields last year in August. Check the underside of leaves for insects. The threshold is 50 aphids per leaf on 25 – 30% of plants. They have shown some resistance to pyrethroids.
Check head for head worms and fall armyworms once heads have started to flower. Check 10 spots per field, 5 plants per spot. An easy scouting method is to use a 5-gallon bucket and shake the head into it and then count the number of medium (1/4 – 1/2 inches) and large (> 1/2 inch) dislodged caterpillars. Texas A&M has a great threshold calculator that takes the grain price and treatment into consideration (https://extensionentomology.tamu.edu/sorghum-headworm-calculator/).
