Crop Protection

Field practices protect water quality from herbicides

As you begin to prepare your fields for this growing season farmers need to make the necessary steps to ensure that herbicides stay out of surface and groundwater. The following field practices recommended by Michigan... more »

Syngenta R&D to yield 16 product launches

Syngenta will launch 16 new crop protection products in 2016, with multiple launches expected over the next five years, according to Jeff Cecil, head of crop protection product marketing for Syngenta, North America. In total,... more »

Prowl H20 approved for highbush blueberry

EPA has approved a new supplemental label for use of Prowl H2O for annual grass and broadleaf weed control in highbush blueberry. Prowl H2O provides four to six weeks control of most annual grasses and broadleaves.... more »

West Michigan degree days ahead of schedule

Degree day totals for the general west Michigan area jumped ahead of the normal average at the beginning of March, but have slowed recently, according to Amy Irish-Brown, Extension educator with Michigan State University. Irish-Brown... more »

Broad spectrum insecticides can flare spider mites

Broad spectrum insecticides, including materials like pyrethroids (IRAC Group 3 materials), organophosphates (IRAC Group 1B), and carbamates (IRACvGroup 1A) have been demonstrated by our laboratory and lots of other entomologists to flare spider mite populations... more »

How USDA eradicated Oriental fruit fly from Florida

There’s a good reason why USDA and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) constantly monitor more than 56,000 fruit fly traps they have strategically placed across Florida. An outbreak of exotic fruit... more »

SWD damage observed in South Carolina strawberries

Last week, South Carolina cooperative extension personnel issued a pest alert for drosophila damage in strawberries. It is impossible to visually distinguish drosophila larvae between species, but if fruit appear otherwise undamaged (meaning they have no holes,... more »

Native predators impact BMSB more than expected

Research recently appearing in the journal Biological Control may change how we view native predators of the brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB). BMSB is an invasive species that was accidentally introduced to the United States... more »