Sticky Traps for Sticky CRW Situations

Sticky traps allow growers and consultants to monitor adult insect populations for foliar insecticide thresholds. To better manage corn rootworm (CRW) in their fields, corn growers in northern Illinois, eastern Iowa and southern Wisconsin partner with Syngenta to place sticky traps in expected high-pressure areas.

“The project really allows us to showcase what we’re doing to control CRW populations and mitigate insect adaptation,” says Todd McRoberts, agronomy manager for NK Seeds. “When you have growers with no CRW in their fields in high-pressure areas, the results speak for themselves.”

By working with growers who place the traps in their fields, Syngenta learns more about how to use the traps to inform CRW management strategies. The traps also provide population checks in areas expected to have high pressure.

“We work with agronomists and our retailer partners to find growers already engaging in progressive management of their fields,” says Andy Heggenstaller, head of agronomy for Syngenta Seeds, U.Strap. “These growers with multiyear containment approaches are best positioned to benefit from using these traps.”

When you have growers with no CRW in their fields in high-pressure areas, the results speak for themselves.

In some areas, population numbers have exceeded expectations, sparking local awareness campaigns to teach growers and retailers how to best handle the threat that CRW larvae and beetles pose.

The growers who deploy the traps already use several best practices, including crop rotation, trait packages and insecticide treatments. Combined with diligent scouting, these practices help some growers — even those in high-pressure areas — manage CRW populations in their fields.