Going into the first week of August things have settled in to a slow idle throughout most of the area. From a pest stand point, stink bugs are the only thing on most folks radar at this time and they have been lite in most all locations. I have found damage in quite a few fields, but I have yet been able to find the numbers to go along with the damage. If fact in several fields I was unable to find a single SB. Our scouting program has found very much the same thing. A few spider mites have been found in isolated spots around the area. In general they have not been at high enough levels to warrant spraying, and in most occasions I don’t think that growers are going to put additional money into the fields with spider mites anyway, since most of these fields are the drier, more stresses fields.

Sorghum is winding down now but sorghum aphid, (formally sugar cane aphid) is still present and can still cause a lot of damage. It can continue to be a pest right up until harvest with the honeydew that it produces. So be sure a keep and eye of aphids until you are ready to harvest this crop.