The purpose of this document is to consolidate current Ohio information on integrated approaches to pest management. One of the intended results is to form a general working definition (practices) of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) on specific crops. Secondly, to develop a system of assessing how far along the IPM continuum growers are, and if their operation has adopted enough core practices to qualify them as IPM practitioners under these guidelines.

Growers should use this document and its six sub headings (Educational, Pre-plant, At-plant, In-season, Harvest, & Post-harvest) as a checklist of possible IPM practices. There is a point value associated with every IPM practice; the higher the number the more important the practice. Growers should only count the points of activities they perform on a crop. The goal is to accumulate 80% of the points in each of the six areas and / or 80% of the total points available, which is simply the sum of the scores from each section (comprehensive).

This document is intended to help growers identify areas in their production system that possess strong IPM qualities and also point out areas for improvement. Growers should attempt to incorporate the majority of these specific techniques into their usual production practices, especially in areas where they fall short of the 80% goal.

Major Pests of Ohio Sweet corn - Primary concerns are insects, diseases, weeds

Insects	Diseases	Weeds
Corn earworm	Damping Off	Annual grasses
European corn borer	Northern corn leaf blight	Annual broadleaf weeds
Fall army worm	Southern corn leaf blight	Perennial weeds
Corn rootworms	Smut	Yellow nutsedge
Corn flea beetle	Stewart's Wilt	Triazine resistant biotypes
Corn leaf aphid	Virus - MDMV, MCDV	Quack grass
Cutworms, Stalk borer, Webworms	Rust	Canada thistle
Japanese, Sap, & Picnic beetles		Field bind weed

Educational IPM Considerations

Education	Activity	Points
	Join local or state grower associations that handle this commodity.	5
	Attend the Ohio Fruit and Vegetable Growers Congress annually to meet and exchange information with other growers. Attend current pest management informational / research presentations.	10
	Obtain the latest Ohio Vegetable Production Guide and other commodity specific reports / production guides.	10
	Gain access to e-mail or fax for weekly VegNet newsletter updates on disease, insect, and weed development, plus management options during the growing season.	10
	Implement an IPM practice currently not used on your farm on limited acreage and gauge its success.	10
	Research alternative markets that may encourage less pesticide use either through specific use reduction requirements (organic, eco-, IPM labels) or simply by permitting more insect feeding, etc.	10

Marginal adoption					Full adoption
0 pts			44 pts Goal		55 pts

Pre-plant IPM Considerations

Management	Activity	Points
Fertility	Soil test; fertilize as needed according to recommendations. Maintain soil pH 6.0 - 6.8.	15
Equipment	Calibrate sprayer; check flow rates and nozzles for both herbicide and insecticide use. Select drift guard nozzles.	10
Site	Avoid planting in last years corn field.	15
	Maintain accurate records of planting dates, field locations, varieties, fertilizer and spray applications.	10
Seed / Hybrid	Select seed with a fungicidal treatment. For earliest plantings, select cultivars with best vigor in cool soils (consult seed reps. or seed catalogs prior to purchase).	15
	Allow planting distance between potentially hybridizing su, Se, and Sh2's; 700 ft. isolation zone, 14 day maturity separation, 8-10 border rows.	15
	Select disease tolerant hybrids or transgenic hybrids for insect or herbicide resistance.	10
	Use clear plastic mulch for early plantings.	10
Disease	Use corn flea beetle model to predict potential severity of Stewart's wilt.	5
	Modify hybrid selection if Stewart's wilt prediction is moderate or severe.	15
Weed	Practice weed seed exclusion tactics such as high pressure washing machinery shared between farms.	15
	Buy certified seed and weed free soil mixtures; determine weed seed content of all seed and do not plant seed contaminated with weed seed not known to occur on your farm.	15
	Use site free of perennials such as quack grass, Johnson grass, Yellow nutsedge, or Canada thistle if possible.	15
	Use a combination of fall/spring tillage and fall/spring application of a broad spectrum herbicide to control established perennials or rotate with a herbicide resistant crop on which a broad spectrum herbicide was used.	15
	Apply pre-plant herbicides to control seedling broad leaf weeds and annual grasses if necessary.	10

Marginal adoption					Full adoption
0 pts			152 pts Goal		190 pts

At-planting IPM Considerations

Management	Activity	Points
Insect	If planting into 2nd year or more corn, use soil insecticide.	10
Weed	Apply pre-emerge herbicide if pre-plant was not applied.	10

Marginal adoption					Full adoption
0 pts			16 pts Goal		20 pts

In-season IPM Considerations

Management	Activity	Points
Weed	Control Johnson grass; it's known to harbor Maize Dwarf virus which can be vectored to sweet corn by aphids.	15
	Use cultivation to control weeds if necessary.	10
	Use post emerge herbicides to control weeds if necessary.	10
	Update field weed maps, use to make treatment decisions next season.	15
	Spot treat persistent perennial weeds.	15
	Watch for weeds that are not common or are new to the field, consider adopting a zero threshold for these weeds and physically remove them in order to prevent seed production.	15
Insect	If systemic insecticide not used at planting, then scout seedling corn (up to 7-leaf stage) at least twice per week for corn flea beetle. For corn varieties that are susceptible to Stewarts wilt, treat if there are more than 6 beetles per 100 plants. For varieties that are tolerant of Stewarts wilt, treat if there are more than 200 beetles per 100 plants and feeding damage is severe on > 25% of plants.	15
	If aerial (airplane) application is used, scout whorl and emerging tassel corn for European corn borer egg masses in the black-head stage; treat if eggs found on more than 4% of stand. OR If able to apply granular insecticide to whorl-stage corn, then scout sweet corn in whorl stage, treat if more than 30% of stand infested by European corn borer larvae or more than 15% infested by fall armyworm larvae. OR If unable to apply granular to whorls but able to treat tasselling corn with ground sprayer, then scout sweet corn in emerging-tassel stage, treat if more than 10% of stand infested by European corn borer larvae or fall armyworm larvae or combination of both.	15
	Use granular insecticides applied to whorls for European corn borer and/or fall armyworm control because use of granules lessens impact on natural enemies.	10
	Scout sweet corn in tassel stage for corn leaf aphid and predators (lady beetles and insidious flower bugs); treat if more than 50% of stand infested with at least 50 aphids per tassel, and predators not abundant.	10
	Before earliest planting starts silking, set up pheromone trap for corn earworm moths; check trap twice per week to count number of target moths; change lure every 2 weeks.	15
	If extra-early plantings are present (silking expected by about mid-June [while ECB moths still flying]), then set up pheromone trap by mid-May for first generation European corn borer moths; check trap twice per week to count number of target moths; change lure every 2 weeks. OR If extra-early plantings are not present (first silk is not expected until after about 1 July [after ECB 1st flight over]), then set up pheromone trap by mid-July for second generation European corn borer; check trap twice per week to count number of target moths; change lure every 2 weeks.	10
	Once silks have browned, move pheromone traps to sweet corn plantings in fresh silk stage.	5
	Spray silking sweet corn with insecticide on a schedule based on catch of corn earworm moths in pheromone trap and maximum air temperature: In early plantings (any that are silking before the local field corn has started silking): moths/week temperature schedule start when 1-5 < 80F 5-day 10% silking 1-5 > 80F 4-day 10% silking 6 or more < 80F 4-day 10% silking 6 or more > 80F 3-day 10% silking OR In mid-season and late plantings (any that are silking during or after silking of local field corn): moths/week temperature schedule start when 1-5 < 80F 7-day 25% silking 1-5 > 80F 5-day 25% silking 6 to 90 < 80F 5-day 10% silking 6 to 90 > 80F 4-day 10% silking > 90 < 80F 4-day 10% silking > 90 > 80F 3-day 10% silking	15
	If no corn earworm moths are caught in traps, then determine need for treat silking corn by catch of European corn borer moths in pheromone trap: treat silking corn every 5 days if 7 or more European corn borer moths are trapped per week.	15
	Scout silking corn for silk-clipping beetles only if corn is not already being treated on a regular schedule for CEW or ECB; treat during early silking if there are > 5 corn rootworm beetles or > 2 Japanese beetles per plant.	15
	Use selective insecticide where possible, e.g. B.t. for ECB and FAW.	15
Vertebrate	Use bird scare devices (balloons, noise makers) instead of poison treatments to protect corn ears.	10

Marginal adoption					Full adoption
0 pts			120 pts Goal		150 pts

Harvest IPM Considerations

Management	Activity	Points
	None described	0

Post-Harvest IPM Considerations

Management	Activity	Points
Site	Consider planting cover crop	15
	Plow down residue as soon as possible after harvest to reduce weed residue, fungal inoculum, and insect over wintering locations.	15
Crop	Evaluate and identify successful practices, incorporate them into next years crop	10
Weed	Update field weed maps, use to make treatment decisions next season.	15
	Spot spray persistent perennial weeds.	15

Marginal adoption					Full adoption
0 pts			56 pts Goal		70 pts

Comprehensive IPM Score
(Add scores of previous 6 sections)

Marginal adoption					Full adoption
0 pts			388 pts Goal		485 pts

Back