Plant Health Initiative

Stem Borer - Management

Timely harvest in infested fields is extremely important to  prevent yield loss due to lodging. Rotation can be an effective management tool where soybean acreage is limited. Rotate soybeans with non-host crops and control host weeds such as ragweed and avoid rotating soybeans with sunflowers. However, this option has limited value were soybeans are commonly grown in an area and populations have reached damaging levels as the adults can fly and readily disperse to near by fields.

Burial of stem borer infested stubble by plowing, row bedding or disking in the fall to a depth of 2 inches is sufficient to decrease larval survival and adult emergence. Thus the importance of this pest may increase with increases in no-till acreages.

Research is in progress to identify resistant or tolerant soybean varieties and to investigate insecticide treatment options, however to date insecticides have not been shown to be effective at controlling this pest and resistant varieties have not been identified.

Contributor: 
, Kansas State University