News
Stink bug threat to crops in Missouri & Midwest
The Brown Marmorated Stink Bug population is a threat to Missouri and other Midwest row crops.
Kevin Rice, University of Missouri assistant entomology professor, tells Brownfield Ag News the stink bug, which was unintentionally released in the United States at first made a huge pest of itself in the mid-Atlantic states, in fruits and vegetables, “But what we are seeing now is it’s having this large population increase. And we’re noticing them in peoples’ homes and we expect them to spill over into agriculture causing damage in the next few years.”
Rice says they are piercing and sucking pests that attack field crops, damaging corn kernels and reducing yields while going after soybean pods and plants. Rice says the good news is they’ve been studying the stink bug for 10 years…
“We know which pesticides to use and we’ve even worked out thresholds for most of our field crops.”
And, Rice says the Samurai Wasp has been detected in 12 states, including Ohio, and is a natural predator of the stink bug. Rice hopes they’ll establish here as the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug populations increase. lie Harker on Brownfield.
Rice says the Samurai Wasps kill 90% of Brown Marmorated stink bug eggs in their native Asia.
