Areawide Pest Management for Wheat

USDA Agricultural Research Service

Wheat, Peanut and Other Field Crops Research Unit

Stillwater, Oklahoma

**PRESS RELEASE**

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 30, 2005

Contacts: Shanna Boyett, <sboyett@okstate.edu>

> Norm Elliott,
> [norman.elliott@ars.usda.gov](mailto:Norman.elliott@ars.usda.gov)

\(405\) 624-4141

**Developments to Wheat Scouting System Account for Natural Enemy**

Wheat growers can look forward to even better results in scouting their
fields for aphids this year. The Cereal Aphid Expert System and Glance
'n Go sampling system for wheat has been recently improved to account
for activity of the beneficial wasp, *Lysiphlebus testaceipes*. Other
improvements to the pest sampling system include reusable Glance 'n Go
forms.

The Expert System and Glance 'n Go were developed by researchers at
Oklahoma State University in conjunction with USDA's Agricultural
Research Service and the Site Specific Technology Development Group of
Stillwater, Okla. The system includes an Internet-based decision support
system, a simple presence/absence field scouting procedure, and easy to
use sampling forms. Glance 'n Go helps growers save time and money by
allowing them to accurately and rapidly sample their wheat crops. The
Decision Support System uses weather data to help the user determine an
economic threshold.

The Glance 'n Go system previously accounted only for the presence of
greenbugs. However, it now allows farmers or scouts to account for wasp
activity as well by identifying the presence of mummies (parasitized
aphids) in the field.

The simplified sampling system was developed in response to concerns
expressed by wheat producers and Cooperative Extension educators. During
initial trials with Extension personnel in southwest Oklahoma, the need
was expressed by one educator for an easy-to-carry form for Glance 'n
Go.

"I don't want anything on a clipboard, I want something that will fit in
my back pocket," one of the participants said.

So that is exactly what the Glance 'n Go forms do now. They fit in your
back pocket, and are reusable with dry-erase markers.

As part of a broader effort to collaborate with wheat producers, the
Agricultural Research Service's "Areawide Pest Management Program"
hosted focus group discussions with wheat producers from Oklahoma,
Texas, Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, and Wyoming.

In focus groups, growers said they needed to be more knowledgeable about
field scouting and insect identification. Many growers admitted to not
properly scouting their fields.

"If you do go out to scout it, you go to the driveway and look out
across it," one grower said.

Some updates growers can look for in the future include a more user
friendly Website and Expert System. Also, researchers are working to
expand Glance 'n Go for Russian wheat aphid and the bird cherry-oat
aphid. To obtain additional feedback from producers, the ARS plans to
host a second series of focus groups with wheat producers in 2006.

The Glance 'n Go Website provides a complete tutorial on how to use this
field scouting method. To access the system, visit OSU's Entomology and
Plant Pathology homepage,
[http://entoplp.okstate.edu](http://entoplp.okstate.edu/) , click on
"Agricultural Models" and then "Cereal Aphid Pest Management." For
growers without internet access, a CD-Rom version is available from Tom
Royer at (405) 744-9406. To learn more about the ARS "Areawide Pest
Management Program," visit
<http://www.ars.usda.gov/Business/docs.htm?docid=6555> .

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