Reports of pea leaf weevil activity have come in from New Kent County and the Eastern Shore of Virginia. The pea leaf weevil (Sitona lineatus) is established in Virginia, but it is highly sporadic and rarely considered an economic pest in soybean. However, It has been found causing significant injury to seedling soybean plants this year. Many of the problem fields are soybeans planted into heavy residue from a legume cover crop, like vetch.
Adult weevils feed on seedling foliage, creating characteristic notching along leaf margins. Under heavy infestations, this feeding can lead to economically significant defoliation. Foliar insecticide applications should be considered when defoliation reaches approximately 40% at the seedling stage. Effective control options include pyrethroids such as beta-cyfluthrin, bifenthrin, cyfluthrin, and zeta-cypermethrin.
Larvae can also be a concern, as they develop in the soil and feed on root nodules, potentially reducing nitrogen fixation in host plants. However, currently, there have been no confirmed reports of larval injury in soybean fields in our region.
Fields planted without an insecticide seed treatment may be at greater risk, as seed treatments can provide early protection against both foliar feeding and belowground injury. These fields should be prioritized for scouting.
We are beginning to see thrips numbers and injury increase in trials on the research station in Suffolk. Many folks are making decisions this week about whether or not a foliar application is needed, and if so, what to spray.
The first thing to consider in cotton is the growth stage. You are most likely to get an economic return on a foliar application made at the early first true leaf stage. Applications made beyond this stage usually have diminishing return on that investment. In many of our trials planted in late may, we have progressed to the second true leaf stage, and third true leaf in some cases.
Last year, we found tobacco thrips in Virginia with reduced susceptibility to acephate (~75-80% mortality). This year we are continuing to monitor using lab assays and field trials. Results of lab screenings are still to come, but in our earliest field tests on station, acephate (at 8 oz/ac) has provided an acceptable level of control. This is one location and one planting date. Milage will vary by location, planting date, and field conditions. If you decide to make a foliar application of acephate, it will be important to carefully monitor after the fact to ensure an acceptable level of control. The alternative option which provides excellent control is Hemi SC (2.5 – 3.0 oz/ac). This product needs to be applied with a non-ionic surfactant or with an herbicide that already has a surfactant to provide good control.
In 2025, the percentage of western flower thrips in the population was high (70%-80% in many fields). This year, we have seen the opposite so far with about 70% tobacco thrips in our tests on station. Western flower thrips have always been more difficult to control with acephate, so a lower percentage of this species makes acpehate a more viable option. Again, the species composition can vary by location and field conditions.
As always, please contact me with any questions you may have.
As many are aware, a new pest of cotton rapidly spread throughout the southeast in 2025. The cotton jassid (Two-spot Cotton Leafhopper) was first identified in Florida in late 2024, and by the end of the 2025 season was confirmed as far north as Northhampton county, North Carolina. It was not identified in Virginia in 2025, but we do not know what the population will do in 2026. Aggressive monitoring for this pest is a critical first step in managing this pest when (or hopefully if) it does arrive in Virginia cotton. This is a tiny insect (~2 mm in length), light green, and has two very distinctive black spots on the tips of its wings. There are native insects that are very similar in appearance, but do not have these two spots. Look on the underside of potential host plants to scout.
The cotton jassid (two-spot cotton leafhopper)
This pest has a wide host range including cotton, specialty crops like okra and eggplant, and ornamental hibiscus (to name a few preferred/common hosts). If you have any of these plants in your yard, home garden, or you grow cotton and notice any hopperburn symptoms, please contact me as soon as possible so we can scout. Hopper burn appears as yellowing around the leaf margins, and can progress to dark red/brown and senescence on margins of affected leaves. You will likely notice injury before you notice the insect, so this is a good way to scout as well.
Cotton jassid injury in cotton
At winter meetings we distributed packages of okra seed to our stakeholders to use as sentinel monitoring plots in home gardens. If you would like a packet of seed to contribute to this effort, we still have some. This article has additional details about what the pest looks like, scouting, damage, and how you can contribute to the monitoring effort.
With a good rain today (Thursday May 7), now is a good time to consider your plan for thrips management in cotton and peanuts for 2026.
The first step is to consider how your planting date affects your thrips management, using the thrips risk predictor tool from NC State. This tool forecasts the risk of heavy thrips injury to cotton, specific to a given location and target plant date. An example output from the tool at the Tidewater AREC in Suffolk can be seen below. Because the model uses local weather data, the closer to planting you are when you check, the more accurate the model will be. In this example, the model looks very different than when it was checked prior to today’s weather. It will also change significantly for different locations, so it is worth your time to enter your own information. As of May 7, for the Tidewater AREC, cotton planted between 5/9 and 5/12 will be at elevated risk for thrips injury.
Cotton planted into the high risk windows may benefit from the addition of an in-furrow insecticide targeting thrips. You can also recheck the model after planting to target your scouting efforts and determine the need for foliar insecticides. In the above example, if we had planted cotton on 4/29, we would be monitoring it carefully for thrips injury as it emerges and grows. The most consistent economic return on a foliar thrips spray will come from an application just as the first true leaf is visible. The thrips risk model also generates an optimal spray date, as indicated by the red dot on the figure below. This is an underutilized feature of the tool, and we are testing the value of this model output in the 2026 season.
This tool is specifically designed for cotton, but planting date also has an impact on thrips in peanut. In 2025, we found significantly higher thrips pressure and tomato spotted wilt virus incidence in early planted (late April) peanuts relative to mid or late may. Imidacloprid (Admire Pro) in furrow at planting can provide some thrips suppression, but efficacy has decreased over time, and it is likely insufficient for high-risk scenarios. There are other at-plant options including AgLogic and Thimet, but they are more expensive. We are generating more extensive efficacy data for all at-plant options in 2026. For earlier planted peanuts, scout carefully to determine the need for a foliar application in addition to at-plant insecticides.
The next thing to consider is what insecticide to use, if a foliar application is made. In 2025, we identified tobacco thrips populations with reduced susceptibility to Acephate in Virginia (~ 75-79% mortality on average). We are continuing to monitor this situation in 2026. Hemi SC provides excellent control for both tobacco thrips and western flower thrips and is a viable alternative. This product must be applied either in combination with an herbicide or with a non-ionic surfactant to achieve good control. For peanut, Exirel (cyantraniliprole) can provide good control as a foliar application.
One additional consideration for foliar management are differences in species composition. Western flower thrips have histroically been more difficult to manage with acephate. In 2025, we had a higher proportion of western flower thrips in cotton than usual. Look out for future updates on species composition for 2026.
The Virginia Grain Producers Association (VGPA) wheat, hard wheat and barley yield contests provide a platform for VGPA members to compete with their peers, share and learn innovative techniques, and promote wheat productivity around the Commonwealth.
Update: 4/20/2026. Drought conditions remain moderate to severe across much of Virginia. Although a weather system moved through the state on April 19, most major small grain production areas received little rainfall (<0.1 inch). Combined with the warm temperatures observed last week, these dry conditions are accelerating winter wheat development. Much of the wheat in the Northern Neck, Middle Peninsula, and Eastern Shore has headed or is approaching heading, and some fields have started flowering.
As of April 20, 2026, the risk of Fusarium Head Blight is low across most production regions, although pockets of moderate risk remain. Fields planted no-till into corn residue are at greater risk, especially when susceptible varieties were used. Growers with susceptible wheat planted into no-till corn stubble may still benefit from a timely fungicide application.
Because heat and drought can move wheat through growth stages more quickly than expected, scout fields frequently so fungicides can still be applied at the correct stage, Feekes 10.5.1 (beginning flowering).
–Douglas S. Higgins, Plant Pathologist, Virginia Tech Eastern Shore Agriculture Research and Extension Center
Syngenta Crop Protection recently announced EPA’s approval of their registration of five new insecticide products containing the active ingredient PLINAZOLIN technology (isocycloseram), which is a unique active ingredient that belongs to IRAC Group 30, offering broad-spectrum insect pest management.
Zivalgo™: a foliar-applied insecticide for pome and stone fruit, citrus, potatoes and tree nuts that goes the distance in the race against codling moth, Colorado potato beetle and more with marathon-caliber residual control
Equento®: this insecticide seed treatment for cereals and pulses offers a flexible and compatible option to terminate wireworms and suppress other below-ground pests, ultimately improving plant stand and helping growers’ bottom line
Opello™: this soil-applied insecticide provides revolutionary control of corn rootworm, consistently helping corn yield up to 27 bu/A more than untreated1, while its highly tank-mix compatible formulation allows growers to leave equipment clogs and slowdowns in the past
Vertento®: a foliar-applied insecticide for cotton, onion, peanuts and soybeans that lands the knockout punch on tough-to-manage insect pests like plant bugs/lygus, stink bugs and mites, and offers champion-level residual control
Incipio™: a foliar-applied insecticide for vegetables that’s tough on pests like diamondback moth and thrips but easy on growers, helping protect their time and peace of mind with long-lasting and reliable control
My lab has field-tested these insecticides against many pest groups on vegetables, potatoes, and other crops over the past several years. Plinazolin insecticide offers a wide pest spectrum including some hard-to manage pests such as: thrips, mites, lepidopteran larvae like diamondback moth and beet armyworm, Colorado potato beetle, alfalfa weevil etc. Because its mode of action is much different than other insecticides, it offers an excellent rotational tool for insecticide resistance management.
Posted on behalf of: Dr. Carrie Ortel, Soybean Agronomist
Each year, the Virginia Tech Soybean Agronomy Program conducts the Official Variety Trials (OVT), evaluating a wide range of commercially available soybean varieties to provide farmers with unbiased, research-based information for variety selection. Traditionally, these results are compiled into a VCE factsheet and shared during winter extension meetings in January and February.
This year, growing interest in earlier access to results encouraged our team to launch a new interactive Soybean Variety Selection Tool, allowing producers to explore yield data as soon as it becomes available. The familiar VCE factsheet—including seed grading information—will still be published in early 2026, but this new tool offers a more timely and dynamic way to view performance data throughout the harvest season.
Filter the data Use the buttons on the left side of the page to filter results based on:
System (full-season or double-crop)
Location
Group (field-determined relative maturity grouping)
Brand
Variety
Herbicide package
Relative maturity group
Yield (bu/ac)
Relative yield (percentage of maximum yield at that site and group)
Sort columns Click any column header to sort the table and explore trends.
Access company tech sheets Want more information? Click any variety name to open the associated company tech sheet. You will have a redirect notice appear, the new web link should begin with https://arec.vaes.vt.edu, followed by variety information, indicating you’re continuing to a safe VT site with the PDF available.
View archived results To explore last year’s dataset, change the “Planting Year” filter to 2024.
Share your feedback Use the “Let us know what you think!” button to submit anonymous comments and suggestions.
Learn more about the tool Click the “?” icon for a detailed overview of how everything works.
Why This Tool Matters
Our goal is to deliver timely, unbiased, and easy-to-interpret variety trial results to support producers in making confident variety selection decisions. While the 2025 yield data is now live, remember that results from a single year should be considered preliminary. That’s why archived data from previous years remains accessible—you’ll get a clearer picture by comparing performance over time.
We encourage growers to select multiple top-performing varieties across several maturity groups, ensuring coverage of the herbicide and disease resistance traits needed for success on your farm.
Thank You
We extend our sincere appreciation to everyone who made this tool and the 2025 OVT season possible. Special thanks to Chris Mitchell, VT CALS Web Manager, and Suzanne Pruitt, Tidewater AREC Communicator, for their guidance and support in bringing the Soybean Variety Selection Tool to life.
We are also grateful to our colleagues across the Virginia Tech Agricultural Research and Extension Centers for hosting trial plots: Dr. Joseph Oakes and his team at the EasternVirginia AREC; Dr. Arash Rashed, Ned Jones, and Laura DeBusk at the Southern Piedmont AREC; Dr. Mark Reiter and Andrew Fletcher at the Eastern Shore AREC; and Jenny Sheetz at the Northern Piedmont Center.
Finally, we appreciate the participating seed companies for contributing their top varieties to the soybean OVT and supporting research that benefits growers across Virginia.
Questions or Suggestions?
We’d love to hear from you. Contact: Carrie Ortel — carrieo@vt.edu
While presenting at a community garden meeting with growers and gardeners in Boydton, VA this morning (Sept 10), one of them talked about a pest that was creating holes in her sour gherkin cucumbers. I checked it out and it was pickleworm (see photos). Location was Clarksville, VA. This is not good news for our large pumpkin industry in Virginia. This means that at least some of these tropical moths have mead their way from the southern U.S. on storm fronts and are depositing eggs on blossoms of cucurbit host plants like cucumbers, squash, and pumpkins.
Pickleworm holes in gherkin cucumbers – Clarksville, VA September 10, 2025. Pickleworm larva crawling out of infested cucumber.
Larvae bore into fruit where they can cause the fruit to rot in addition to reducing marketability of the fruit. Growers should inspect their fruit and blossoms regularly until harvest. If pickleworm is found, there are many effective insecticides to control it, but the most affordable would probably be a pyrethroid.
