The hot, dry weather recently is giving area crops a powerful one-two punch. On top of that, area farmers are fighting another problem that could affect their yields and cost them. It's also a battle against bugs.
Japanese beetles have become a big problem recently. The damage on soybean crops is visible as the beetles have been munching away at leaves until they look like Swiss cheese. Farmers are hoping to catch a break soon.
Along with the acres of soybeans and row after row of corn there's an unwelcome guest. It's a crop of critters for area farmers like Joe Dierickx near Grand Mound. "They're defoliating the beans and that's a little concerning to us because we're trying to make a bigger crop, bigger plant, not lose leaves. Here they are eating them like cows," said Dierickx.
If there's too much damage to the leaves the plant thinks it can't support sprouting beans. For corn, the bugs can hamper pollination. "When you don't have rain every little thing just keeps nicking the yield," added Dierickx.
Virgil Schmitt, an agronomist with Eastern Iowa Extension, makes visits to fields dealing with issues like this. "The Japanese beetles, first of all, is probably one of the most common calls I've been getting in terms of both corn and soybeans," said Schmitt, "what we've been doing is look to see what kind of populations are there."
Japanese beetles emerge from the soil in June and July. Schmitt says the population is more than average this year thanks to last year's wet weather. All they do is mate and eat, chomping holes through the greens in no time. They're also pretty resilient until it frosts outside. "We basically need to put up with them or destroy them," added Schmitt.
Farmers can use insecticides. Schmitt says that when 20 percent of the plant's leaves are damaged it's time to take action, and timing is key. "If we pull the trigger to do an insecticide spray too soon the residual may be gone while more are still emerging."
"If they keep getting to be a bigger nuisance who knows, but if it rains there seems to be enough for the bugs, for the farmers and for everybody," said Dierickx.
Japanese beetles are here by accident. They were imported with Japanese iris flowers for the World's Fair in 1906 in San Francisco. Japanese beetles like more than 300 types of plant and, on top of the soybean leaves, they like the silk on corn. That could be a problem in the next few weeks when silks start sprouting for the pollination stage.
