Rick Brandenburg urges peanut producers to take it easy when spraying for the corn earworm  because peanut plants are much healthier today than they were 20 years ago and they can handle the pest much better than they could in the past.

Speaking at the 65th annual peanut field day at the Peanut Belt Research Station in Lewiston-Woodville Sept. 7, Brandenburg, North Carolina State University Extension entomologist, said peanuts can now handle corn earworms much better than in the past, particularly in July and August when the worms first appear.

Brandenburg said he is changing the threshold recommendations of economic loss in peanuts for corn earworm from four worms per row foot to eight worms per row foot. He urged peanut farmers to be cautious about spraying, particularly because the products used to control corn earworm are more expensive today.  In addition, budworms have become more common in peanuts and these are typically not controlled with the older and less expensive pyrethroid insecticides.

“You have to have a higher worm population to justify the higher cost of control,” Brandenburg advised.

He also noted that the frequent use of pyrethroids to control corn earworms has resulted in a significant level of insecticide resistance to this group of products and pyrethroids can create a situation where spider mites will be more serious.