Corn Earworm
Low corn earworm migration risks remain in the forecast through the next five days as an active weather pattern is predicted to remain in place across the corn-growing region. Low risks are predicted tonight into tomorrow morning mainly east of I-35 to the Ohio/Indiana state line and along/south of I-94 in southern Wisconsin and into southwest Michigan. A low pressure system is predicted to lift northeast from Kansas into the upper Midwest, and south to southwest winds ahead of a cold front trailing to the south and associated precipitation may pose an isolated moth flight risk overnight tonight into tomorrow morning. The front is now predicted to push further to the south by late Friday into Saturday, and so the Low risk by that time is mainly confined to fields south of I-80 from southeast Nebraska into southern Iowa, central Illinois, Indiana, and southwest Ohio. As a new low pressure system organizes across the Plains states by the weekend, southerly winds are predicted to expand back north and east, shifting the Low migration risk area back to the north. Some fields as far north as southern Minnesota and Wisconsin may see isolated moth flights over the weekend and into early next week, with the risk eventually shifting across the southern Great Lakes and eastern corn-growing region by early next week as a cold front pushes through the region. Growers are advised that the overall risk is being kept low based on crop stage and also a below average number of moths in southern source regions. Any isolated flights should be noted, as higher moth populations now may lead to higher moth counts and potential damage when the crop matures into critical growth stages later this summer.