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Q&A ViewAttendees 1

Plant-Insect Ecosystems

Student Competition 10-Minute Paper

Grad P-IE: IPM - Field Crops 1

Harvest timing and alfalfa weevil across the intermountain west

Monday, November 1, 2021
9:24 AM - 9:36 AM MT
Location: Colorado Convention Center, Four Seasons Ballroom 1
In-Person Student Competition
Alfalfa weevil, Hypera postica, is one of its most damaging pests of alfalfa in the Intermountain Western United States. Currently, chemical methods of control are commonly used to combat this pest but with increased concerns surrounding environmental impacts, insecticide resistance, and the high costs of chemical application alternative methods of control are going to become more critical in the future. One such method is “early harvest”, a mechanical means of control that has a long history of being recommended to producers. Unfortunately, these recommendations are often vague and the few studies that have assessed harvest timing are not enough to provide useful guidelines for producers surrounding specific harvest timing. This study aims to evaluate harvest timing effects on weevil control to create specific and beneficial producer guidelines. Production alfalfa fields across Montana, Wyoming and Colorado were sampled in 2019 and 2021 to determine the impacts of on-farm harvest timing on alfalfa weevil densities. Alfalfa production fields were sampled before and after their first harvest of the season to determine crop damage, alfalfa weevil parasitism rates, and alfalfa weevil densities. This research will assist with the creation of IPM recommendations for producers that will lead to increased alfalfa weevil control and sustainability in alfalfa production systems across the Intermountain West.