In the July 2014 Badger Common’Tater
Managing Colorado Potato Beetle Insecticide Resistance: New Tools and Strategies for the Next Decade
Neonicotinoid insecticides have been the most common management tool for Colorado potato beetle (CPB), Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say), infestations in cultivated potato for nearly 20 years. The relative ease of applying neonicotinoids at planting coupled with inexpensive, generic neonicotinoid formulations have reduced the incentive for potato growers to transition from these products to other mode of action (MoA) groups for early-season CPB control. Continuous use of neonicotinoids has resulted in resistant beetle populations in some production areas of the eastern United States. Continued reliance on neonicotinoids will only accelerate resistance development and result in additional insecticide inputs to manage these populations. Resistance management recommendations for CPB have focused on rotation of insecticides within the growing season. Growers using at-plant neonicotinoids for early-season beetle control are encouraged to rotate insecticide modes of action (MoA) for later generations to delay resistance development. Although this short-term insecticide rotation has likely prolonged the utility of neonicotinoid insecticides, reducing reliance of a single MoA soil application at planting will improve the longevity of newer, more reduced-risk alternatives. Get the full story in the July 2014 edition of The Badger Common’Tater.
WPVGA Water Task Force Delivers:
Wisconsin Irrigation Scheduling Program 2012: Free training!
Irrigation scheduling is an important tool to ensure the crops have adequate soil moisture while reducing the amount of ground water pumped and controlling energy costs. It can also help to protect groundwater quality by reducing deep drainage that removes nutrients and pesticides from the crop root zone. A new free web-based irrigation tool, WISP-2012 – Wisconsin Irrigation Scheduler Program, has been developed to automate some of the operations for Irrigation Scheduling such as recording daily ET, calculations of adjusted ET and setting allowable depletion set points for various fields on your farm.
The tool also forecasts the soil moisture one to two days in the future to help plan future irrigation needs. For more details, read the July 2014 issue of The Badger Common’Tater.
Kids Dig Harvest Party
There were two schools selected to receive Kids Dig Wisconsin Potatoes Harvest Parties this year. One of the winners was Joanne Hagen’s 5th grade class at Meadowview Intermediate School in Sparta. The other was Highland School in Highland.
Highland School and Ms. Hagen’s 5th grade class at Sparta were randomly selected out of all of the classrooms that participated in the Kid’s Dig Wisconsin Potatoes program this year. There were over 100 schools participating in the program this year.
At the Harvest Party in Sparta on May 22, 2014, the children harvested several small, red potatoes. Even though the potatoes were quite small, the students were very excited to see that potatoes had started to grow. The class celebrated their harvest with games, including a potato sack race, a potato spoon race and a game of potato toss. They then enjoyed mashed potato brownies and bags of the WPVGA’s promotional potato chips.
Check out the July 2014 Badger Common’Tater for more photos of the Kids Dig harvest party in Sparta.
Kathy Bartsch hands out potatoes to students in preparation for the potato toss game.
Marie Reid supervises this potato spoon race.
