Wheat Aphids Abundant

Your's truly has on a leg cast for a broken foot and therefore has not spent any time in the field. However, Dr. Ed Bynum, Extension Entomologist in Amarillo, has just published a newsletter detailing abundant greenbugs and Russian wheat aphids in area wheat. He discusses scouting and thresholds.

Sugarcane Aphid: Insecticide News

There is good news on insecticides for sugarcane aphid. EPA, with a lot of work from the Texas Dept. of Agriculture, has granted a Section 18 for Transform in 2015. Additionally, Sivanto has just received a Section 2(ee) label for reduced rate use on sugarcane aphid. Details appear below.

1. Transform (Sulfoxaflor) Section 18 approved

Dale R. Scott, Coordinator for Pesticide Product Evaluation and Registration, Texas Department of Agriculture, has just announced that a Section 18 Emergency Exemption has been issued for Transform (sulfoxaflor) for control of sugarcane aphids in Texas. The Section 18 Emergency Exemption became effective yesterday, February 26, 2015 and will expire on October 31, 2015. Several other states received the same authorization today as well.

The authorization letter and Section 18 label have not been posted on the TDA website yet, but we will link to the documents when they are available. 

The highlights of the Section 18 label are these:

• Use rate: 0.75 - 1.5 oz.
• Maximum number of applications: 2 (and not to exceed 3.0 oz of Transform per year).
• Minimum treatment interval: Do not make applications less than 14 days apart.
• Preharvest Interval: Do not apply within 14 days of grain or straw harvest or within 7 days of grazing.
• Restricted entry interval (REI): 24 hours. 

Section 18s are a lot of work to get approved and we would like to thank Dale for all of his efforts on behalf of Texas sorghum growers. 

2. Sivanto (Flupyradifurone) Section 2(ee) reduced rate label

Sivanto 200SL (Flupyradifurone) insecticide has been issued a Section 2(ee) label for use on sorghum to control sugarcane aphid. The new sugarcane aphid use rate that became effective on 3/2/15 is 4.0 - 7.0 oz. (The full Section 3 label specifies 7.0 - 10.5 oz, but lower rates can now be used on sorghum to control sugarcane aphid.)

Other relevant information appears below.

Preharvest Interval (PHI): 7 days for forage, 21 days for grain, stover or straw.
Minimum interval between applications: 7 days.
Minimum application volumes: 10 GPA by ground, 2 GPA by air.
Maximum number of ounces that can be used per season: 28.

The full Section 2(ee) label is here: http://www.cdms.net/LDat/ldC4K006.pdf