Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Kate Crumley
Texas Upper Coast Cotton: Early Season Pest Thresholds
We’ve been off to a chilly and windy start, and nearly everywhere needs rain, but most of our cotton is in the ground now, and soybeans are currently being planted. The corn and milo is looking a little dry, but good otherwise. I have been looking for sugarcane aphids a bit in some of the johnson grass on the edges of fields, but I have not picked any up yet in the spots I’ve looked. With the weather we’ve had lately, it’s also possible we could start to see chinch bugs in corn or sorghum.
Keep eyes peeled for aphid pest that’s been found in Texas, Louisiana rice
• By Dr. Mo Way, Kate Crumley and Dr. David Kerns • English grain aphids and black sooty mold on a Wharton County, Texas, rice plant — photo by Kate Crumley, Texas A&M AgriLife Just want to alert you rice farmers and crop consultants to be on the look out for the English grain aphid. As you probably know, aphids have piercing-sucking mouthparts, like a rice stink bug. But aphids suck up plant juices from the vascular phloem tissue of plants.
Texas Rice: Seeing A New Aphid? Better Call Mo
Winged adult English grain aphid in rice. Photo: Kate Crumley, Texas AgriLife Extension Just want to alert you rice farmers and crop consultants to be on the look out for an aphid…English grain aphid. As you probably know, aphids have piercing-sucking mouthparts, like a rice stink bug. But aphids suck up plant juices from the vascular phloem tissue of plants. They get rid of excess fluids by excreting a sugary substance called honeydew which provides food for an organism called sooty mold fungus.
Texas Upper Coast Cotton: Mostly Passed Insect Concern
Most of our cotton is wrapping up around here, there’s open bolls scattered around, and the corn and milo is getting harvested. Cutout occurs when cotton is 5 Nodes Above White Flower (NAWF), and at 350 degree days (DD60) past cutout we can stop worrying about plant bugs and bollworms. We can stop worrying about stink bugs at 450 DD60 past cutout, so keep that in mind while scouting and if you are considering treatment.
Texas Upper Coast Cotton: Bollworms and Stink Bugs
Bollworm eggs on cotton leaf. I am still seeing a few different plant bug species around, in cotton as well as other crops, but we should be able to stop worrying about damage from these plant bugs in cotton soon. Once bolls get larger and we reach 350 degree days (DD60) past 5 Nodes Above White Flower (NAWF), we can stop scouting for plant bugs. Most of the cotton in my scouting program is between 9 and 5 NAWF.
Texas Upper Coast Cotton: Scout Field for Fleahoppers
Cotton fleahoppers on squaring stem. Photo: Stephen Biles, Texas AgriLife Extension This week I’ve been looking for fleahoppers and other plant bugs in cotton. There’s been a couple different species of plant bugs in cotton than I usually see, so feel free to contact me if you have something unusual you would like an ID on. I’ve heard of some verde plant bugs popping up as well. I have been seeing low numbers of aphids in most fields, but nowhere that warrants treatment.
Texas Upper Coast Cotton: Thrips, Aphids, Spidermites, and Wind
Thrips damaged cotton. Photo: Andrew Sawyer, University of Georgia This planting season on the gulf coast has ranged from a little dry to fantastic so far. Hopefully we’ll catch a few rains where we need them and get everyone off to a good start. It’s been windy, and I’ve seen cotton with damaged stalks and leaves from the wind, as well as some stand reduction.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Kate
Contact Kate, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack