By Justin McMechan

University researchers in Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota and Minnesota have put out traps for the soybean gall midge and established an alert system for growers and applicators.

If you would like to be notified when and where first emergence occurs, email Justin McMechan at [email protected] with your name, cellphone number (for texts) or email.

You also can follow McMechan on Twitter at @justinmcmechan to stay informed about soybean gall midge reports in Nebraska. Updates will be published in CropWatch.

Knowing where this crop pest is emerging can help growers better plan and target insecticide applications. The soybean gall midge is a relatively new pest in Midwest soybeans, and researchers are still working to better understand its life cycle and treatment. Extensive trapping this summer will help provide key information.

The soybean gall midge was first found in Nebraska in 2011 in late-season hailed fields and moved into the spotlight in late June 2018 when growers started reporting significant soybean damage and death from a new pest in Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota.

Further surveys found the soybean gall midge in 66 counties in four states. In Nebraska, all reports were in the eastern part of the state, extending from counties along the Missouri River westward.

In 2018, soybean gall midge was identified as a new species of gall midge, Resseliella maxima Gagne, partly based on research in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

McMechan is a Nebraska Extension crop protection and cropping systems specialist.

Source: UNL CropWatch, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.