Integrated Crop Management is published by the Department of Entomology , Iowa State University , Ames, Iowa.
Wireworms are occasionally a concern to farmers planting corn.
Stand loss occurs in a very small percentage of Iowa cornfields, but where the problem does exist, it may persist for several years. Prevention of stand loss caused by wireworms can only be accomplished with the use of an insecticide. In the March 20 ICM newsletter, data from Missouri were presented that measured the percentage of healthy plants in several insecticide treatments. In this article, Iowa data are presented but the numbers measure the percentage stand increase over the untreated check. The Missouri and Iowa data cannot be compared because each is using a different method of evaluation.