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April 23, 2019 |  By: Noah Cooper

Spring planting brings harmful alfalfa weevil

 

Spring planting is underway in Missouri which means the alfalfa weevil is back in the fields. Field Specialist in Agronomy for the University of Missouri Extension, Wayne Flanary, says the alfalfa weevil can have harmful effects on crops.

"Alfalfa weevil will come in early spring and what they'll do is feed on the upper leaflets and the terminal buds of the alfalfa plan.  And what they do is reduce the quality of they hay that's there.  And if they can defoliate it severely enough that it can stunt its regrowth."

Flanary adds there are ways to scout fields for the weevil.

"You need to just look at one place in the field.  I guess you could if you find a bad group, you don't need to go clear-cross the field in a zig-zag fashion or in any type of strategy.  Go to at least five different locations, ten is better, and then take at least ten stems from each one of those and shake them in a bucket.  If there's one or more average per stem, that means an economic threshold and we need to do something about the weevil."