MSU Extension Ag Alerts

The crops are starting to set their seed. This is a time of year where we often notice stresses that happened some time ago, as crops don’t perform as well as we expected. Included in this alert are a couple of reasons and how to recognize them: crown and root rots, and frost and hail damage.

In the attached, prominent disease issues are described in cereals and pulses with the recent wet conditions.

--Mary Burrows

Thistle caterpillar is being reported in large numbers on a roadway adjacent to some wheat fields in Lake County (6/13/2019).

Damaging numbers of black grass bugs (Labops hesperius) are being reported in range and pasture locations in Valley and Cascade Counties.  Black grass bugs are plant sap feeders that target many introduced range grasses, including crested wheatgrass, intermediate wheatgrass, and orchardgrass. 

Updates of the fungicide tables are attached to this alert. If you notice anything wrong, let me know and I will update them.

--Mary Burrows

mburrows@montana.edu

In a previous MSU news release, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)  announced its final decision regarding pesticide products containing the herbicide active ingredient, paraquat. As part of these requirements, paraquat products purchased with new label language, including mandatory paraquat trainings, must attend an EPA approved paraquat training prior to mixing, loading or applying. An online paraquat training, created by pesticide manufacturers and approved by the EPA, is available online at https://campus.extension.org/enrol/index.php?id=1660. This training provides information about paraquat’s toxicity, personal protective equipment, new label requirements, restrictions, and the consequences of misuse.