Crops: CROP SCENE INVESTIGATION – 10 SOLVED: What’s really stressing John’s corn?

by SHAWN BRENNEMAN

Rootworm larvae damaged the roots in John’s corn causing the plants to look severely drought- stressed.

The key to solving this puzzle was getting as much information as possible from the field history. Typically, rootworm is a pest found in corn after corn. While John’s previous crop had been soybeans he’d had significant volunteer corn pressure.

Better Farming - May 2008