WOOSTER, Ohio - Slugs are
feeding on com earlier than
usual in no-till fields, and crop
injury could become serious in
the coming weeks.
Although feeding injury in
north central Ohio was slight in
mid-May, the newly hatched
slugs could potentially cause
more damage as they get bigger,
says entomologist Ron Ham
mond, Ohio State University.
Damage may already be appar
ent in fields where slugs would
have hatched even earlier.
Corn and soybeans are most
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ALLENSVILLE
Allensville Shoe Shop Fisher Harness &
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Brandywine Shoe Shop
1620 Cambridge Rd.
KUTZTQWN
Waynes Dry Goods
271-273 W. Main St
215-683-7686
Slugs Feeding On Corn Earlier This Year
vulnerable to slug damage from
the time of seed germination to
the early plant development
stages before the crop can out
grow their damage. Thus, it will
take fewer slugs to cause eco
nomic injury to the smaller
plants that have just emerged.
Economic injury can occur very
fast after feeding starts in a
field.
Seeds are also vulnerable in
exposed furrows or if slugs have
other kinds of opportunities to
reach the seed.
Growers and scouts should
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DISONBURG
NSB
Zimmerman Harness
RD 2 Box 36
814-793-3961
IFFLINTi
Lost Creek Shoe Shop
RD #1 Box 88
keep a close watch on fields with
a history of slug damage. This
damage might also start being
seen in soybean fields.
The potential for a slug prob
lem after last year’s drought
puzzles Hammond because slugs
are associated with cool, wet
conditions. Apparently slugs
found some soil moisture to sur
vive the mild winter. By early
May, OSU entomologists were
finding large numbers of egg
hatches two to three weeks
ahead of schedule in north cen
tral Ohio.
MILLERSBURG
Tall Pines
Country Store
796 Kessler Rd
717-362-3024
(voice mail only)
REHRERSBIJRG
Leo’s Shoe Store ■■
Godfrey St. Kt 4
717-933-8169 lj ■lij _
MggP
Dusk is tne best time to scout
for slugs; no-till fields—which
are farmed without plowing and
have last season’s harvested
crop residues covering the
ground—are the prime candi
dates because slugs don’t sur
vive well in plowed fields.
Farmers should lift crop resi
dues to check the condition of
non-emerged seedlings.
Most numerous and damag
ing is the gray garden slug.
Depending on field condi
tions, the dusky slug can be
damaging, and to a lesser extent.
IN'
Red Wing Shoe Store
511 Baltimore Pike
610-544-1664
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 3, 2000-811
the marsh slug. The dusky slug
can cause significant stand loss
in soybeans without a corre
sponding percentage of defolia
tion.
Learn more about slugs in
OSU Extension Field Crops Pest
Management Circular No. 20,
“Slugs on Ohio Field Crops,”
http://ohioline.ag.ohio-state.edu.
Or, write for information at Col
lege of Food, Agricultural, &
Environmental Sciences, Ohio
State University 216 Kottman
Hall, 2021 Coffey Road Colum
bus, Ohio 43210.
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