Some farmers in northern Iowa are facing a new problem in their cornfields this year. Iowa State University Extension crop specialist George Cummins says there’s been a white grub infestation. He says they’re a pest that’s on a three-year cycle, and are generally thought of as coming out of reserve ground that has been in pasture. He says they’re big white grubs that kill corn plants. Cummins says it’s been about ten years since he’s heard of a problem with the grubs, but they were present recently when he did a field check in northern Iowa.He says in the three fields he was in, there were probably 15-20 acres that were impacted severely. Cummins says the white grubs took people by surprise.He says these are not insects they normally look for, but noticed them after they saw the plants were disappearing and stunted. Cummins says they first thought the problem was cool weather, until they dug in and saw the larva and root damage. He says there’s not much farmers can do now to make up for the damage. He says the normal treatment is to replant using a soil insecticide, but he says it’s so late now, that replanting is not an option. Cummins found corn damaged from white grubs in Floyd and Worth County. He says the infestation seems to be very spotty.
