Gone

ANGUSJournal n August 2011 ‘T first time a rancher may notice [fall armyworms] may be when the whole field is gone,” says Kathy Flanders, an entomologist with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. “They usually don’t get noticed in time. They lay eggs in masses. Then a patch turns brown in the field as the caterpillars eat the tender, green foliage and leave behind brown, tough stems. “They eat most of the food in the last stage of their lives, which lasts only about four days. They are somewhat synchronized in development, so they come and go in groups,” she explains. While fall armyworm infestations are not an every-year headache for most producers, chances are good that somewhere in the South, somebody is going to have to spray this year. In 2009-2010, for example, Alabama experienced a statewide epidemic with widespread damage, says Flanders.