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Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive |
Army Worms InvadeLAMAR JAMESPublished Wednesday, August 2, 2000 in the Gurdon Times Fall armyworms are threatening Bermuda grass pastures and lawns in Arkansas, according to Don Johnson, entomologist with the Cooperative Extension Service, University of Arkansas. The worms are small, about an inch and a half long, but they can consume a considerable amount of foliage, Johnson said. When they travel in high numbers, "they can mow down pastures. They basically can reduce them to nothing." Johnson said county agents are finding alarming numbers of the pest. Some have been reported here in southwest Arkansas. "We have tremendous populations of them. Joe Vestal, the county agent in Lafayette County, reported 10 per square foot. Bernie Kurz reported even higher numbers in Crawford County." The recommended treatment level is about three or more worms per square foot. "Carey Wall, another agent in Crawford County, said she got out of her truck at the home of a client and noticed that his yard seemed to be moving," Johnson said. When she looked closer, she found about 30 to 40 armyworms per square foot. Fall armyworms typically don't appear before late August. However, they appeared in early August two years ago and devastated pastures across Arkansas. "So we're starting a month earlier than we did two years ago," Johnson noted. "We could have a heavy population of worms in August or by September that could cause serious problems for our cattlemen." The outbreak two years ago was so serious farmers used up the normal supply of pesticides to control them. Johnson believes supplies are adequate this year. There are several types of armyworms. Fall armyworms tend to migrate to Arkansas from Gulf coast states in the latter part of the summer. But, because of recent warm winters, they've been overwintering closer to Arkansas. This means they become a problem sooner and build up in greater numbers than normal. Johnson said fall armyworms are a problem statewide. "They started in south Arkansas in cotton, soybeans and several other crops. They feed on a wide range of crops. Some farmers had to treat fields of soybeans and corn. But fall armyworms aren't as devastating to those crops as they are to Bermuda grass, their preferred food." While the worms prefer Bermuda grass, Johnson warned that row crop farmers could be in for a rough time later in the summer as the worms' numbers grow and the insects look for additional food. Johnson recommended that farmers start scouting Bermuda grass pastures weekly for the remainder of the summer. He said they need to look closely at the base of plants and count the number of worms. If the level reaches three or more per square foot farmers should apply pesticides recommended in extension's MP 44 publication or ask their county agent. Search | Nevada County Picayune by date | Gurdon Times by date |
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