Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

The 2006 annual meeting of S-1010 was held April 2-3 in St Louis MO, in conjunction with the National IPM Conference. The chair of the technical committee, David Ragsdale, opened the meeting at 1:00 pm. Chris DiFonzo acted as secretary and local arrangements; registration fee was $50/person. Attendees included 31 university and government researchers from the U.S. and Canada. The group discussed the S1010 project rewrite, which should start in 2006. There was discussion about changing the project to the NC region, which would entail a new advisor. Rick Meyer suggested talking to Dave Boethel (administrative advisor) about the rewrite, as well as moving the project to the NC region. Rick also reminded the group that there is guidance on the web for rewrites. The rewrite probably would have to be in by March/April 2007, so a committee should be in place by Sept 2006. Rick Meyer, USDA CSREES reported on the 2006 Budget. NRI funded is at $180 million. Other integrated programs were unchanged. The President's 2007 budget is available on the web. There is a 25% reduction in base funding for Hatch by shifting funds to a competitive basis. Dr. Meyer also discussed Impact Statements for multi-state projects: confusion over reporting and evaluating impacts, required under federal regulations. Stakeholders want this information. His presentation covered 'What is an impact' and how to write good impact statements. He also discussed how impacts are used by CSREES. The group decided to move to electronic reporting - might make it easier to assemble NIMSS reports. C. DiFonzo volunteered for 2006 to collect state reports and other materials and mail CDs to all participants. The remainder of Day 1 and the morning of Day 2 were spent on reports by objective. On 3 April, in the afternoon, Scott Isaard, Amanda Hodges, and Julie Golod discussed the Pest information Platform for Extension Education (PIPE), to map SBA on a web site in a similar fashion to soybean rust. A Good Field Practice (GLP) button allows growers to print GFP form/ guidelines for crop insurance. State specialists will have the option update or modify the guidelines for their state to 'better serve their constituents' or to default to general guidelines. There was group discussion on the SBA guidelines for the GFP form, also discussion about the impact of crop insurance on the guidelines, and how data would be presented on the map. Amanda Hodges also talked about the protocol for soybean rust and SBA monitoring. The group discussed the 2007 meeting times. Tentatively the meeting will take place in Virginia, hosted by Ames Herbert, between March 12-16, 2007. Mo Way volunteered to serve as secretary if Ames hosts in 2007. Meeting adjourned at 5pm on 3 April 2006.

Objective 1a-c: Soybean aphid management; validating BLB management strategies; management of insects in evolving cropping systems. Soybean aphid populations were high across much of the Midwest. A record 30,000 SBA were counted on a single plant in Michigan. Fields in SE counties in this state were over threshold by mid-June 15. Suction trap catches were large at several locations around the Great Lakes in early August. In addition to aphids, treatments for spider mites were also up in 2005. Millipedes, stink bugs, and slugs were also noted as increasing problems. In the area of SBA biology, NDSU reported the super-cooling point for SBA eggs was lower than reported, -39 C. Late in 2005, many people noticed a small white soybean aphid form (white dwarves - a term used in cotton aphid) on the lower canopy. These aphids less vigorous and produced no honey dew. However, these aphids 'recovered' at the end of the season or when moved to new plants. Host plant nutrition may have something to do with this white form. Soybean aphid management continued to be an important activity in S1010. Many universities had trials to validate the speed scouting methods compared to the 250 threshold. Speed scouting was too conservative, and often recommended treatment before the 250 threshold was reached. A modification was suggested for 2006 to account for pulling the trigger early - must be over threshold for two consecutive weeks to treat. University of Virginia presented speed scouting in a Breeze format. A new economic threshold model was based on cumulative aphid-days vs. yield over multiple years and locations. The threshold, based on the new model, is 261 SBA/ plant, very close to the original 'educated guess'. The threshold is robust in R1-R5 beans. Many universities conducted additional strip trials for SBA. In Ontario, there continues to be a response to later season applications up to the R6 bean stage. Also in Ontario, in a spray technology study there was only 7% coverage in the mid canopy and 2% in the lower canopy on water sensitive spray cards using assumed optimal nozzle set up. At Iowa State, reduced-rate Warrior applications for bean leaf beetle control, timed early in the season before the arrival of soybean aphid, lead to resurgence of SBA. They speculate there is an impact on Orius predators even before SBA arrives in soybean fields. ISU scientists are starting research on the interaction between SBA and cyst nematode. Many researchers are working with seed treatments. A study clip-caging aphids on treated and untreated plant showed that once past the V5 stage (approx. 35 days after planting), there is little impact of thiamethoxam or imidacloprid on SBA. University of Guelph found no impact of thiamethoxam seed treatment on Aphidius colmannii. Ohio State plans to conduct trials to test the impact of seed treatments on slugs. Host plant resistance work continues to be fruitful. K1639 is the most promising resistant variety in Kansas. Electronic monitoring of feeding on this variety indicates there may be important behavioral components to this resistance. Pioneer is currently rating aphid varieties as excellent 'good' poor aphid hosts. The rating came from greenhouse data in Kansas, and Pioneer's observations in the field. There was discussion about how growers will use this information in a practical manner. University of Wisconsin is breeding for both aphid and disease resistance. They have one PI that is resistant to an alfalfa mosaic virus strain. Work on other soybean pests continues as well. NGIRL began a project on the effect of nitrogen starter fertilizer on BLB populations and impact of larval feeding on beans. That facility is also attempting to artificially rear BLB. There were several anecdotal comments about soybean looper outbreaks in fields treated with a Quadris/ Warrior tank mix. Spider mites are becoming a problem every year in the Midwest and also in the south. Research suggests that Roundup, neo-nicotinoids, and fungicides for rust may increase mites in the future. Virginia reported increasing stink bug populations, and they were able to conduct efficacy trials. Stink bugs are also the major pest in southern soybean production. Late season infestation in Mississippi did not cause significant yield loss, but significantly impacted quality; thus it was economical to spray late-season beans. In 2006, researchers will examine varieties, planting date, feeding location in relation to stink bug damage. Objective 2: Define insect-vector ecology and virus-disease relationships and develop management strategies. In the area of bean pod mottle virus, Hammond reported that seed treatment plots had less BPMV as well as less BLB feeding. Many locations report there were not consistent reductions in BLB and BPMV in seed treated plots or foliar sprayed plots, or consistent yield increases. Soybean dwarf virus was found this year in Wisconsin in soybean. Gratton showed soybean aphids performed worse on AMV, BPMV, and SMV (vegetative stage) infected plants than on healthy plants (2x populations on healthy plants). This may relate to nymph survivorship. In Michigan, there were problems in 2005 with CMV, ZYMV, WMV2 in veg crops, BCMV in dry beans. In Minnesota, there was also an increase in potato viruses / seed potato rejections when SBA came into the system. Researchers in Ontario collected plant samples for virus weekly in soybean fields - there are increasing levels of AMV, BPMV, SMV, and Tobacco ringspot in both breeder fields and commercial fields. Objective 3: Biological control of the soybean aphid: An extensive amount of work is occurring on biocontrol of soybean aphid by native biological agents. In South Dakota field cages infested with SBA, Orius had no impact, but Harmonia reduced populations below threshold. In contrast, in Indiana, Orius makes up 85-90% of predator community based on visual counts and sweep net samples. Researchers at NGIRL are looking at Orius reproduction and conservation, host plant preferences with focus on weeds. In Iowa, soybean plots with a living mulch had delayed infestation by soybean aphid and twice as many natural enemies, although soybean yield was significantly reduced. Wisconsin researchers found that larger the initial aphid population, the greater the proportional decrease in aphid density, suggesting that natural enemies cue into isolated patches of aphids. In replicated trials in Minnesota, incidence of infection with entomopathogenic fungi was less in plots sprayed with soybean rust-labeled fungicides. Researchers speculate that the widespread use of fungicides in one year for rust may lead to increased aphid numbers the following year. In Ontario, studies focuses on biocontrol of overwintering eggs from 2004. Egg populations declined 70% between fall and spring. Predatory midges, lady beetles, and a Neuropteran species were collected on buckthorn. Research is also underway with exotic natural enemies. Foreign exploration continues in Asia by university and ARS scientists. In China, survey of natural enemies species included Orius, lady beetles, Neuroptera, spider, all responding to SBA numbers. Multiple parasitoid species were brought from Asia and are now undergoing screening in quarantine. Environmental assessments and non-target testing of some of these species are underway. Releases of Binodoxys communis are planned for 2006. Extension materials and a web site are being developed on biocontrol for grower education.