Farmers are worried the recent warm weather will bring unwanted field crop insects to Michigan.
The black cutworm, the potato leaf-hopper, and the army-worm all migrate from south to north, which means the weather in their region will determine the timing and amount of movement to Michigan. Chris DiFonzo, a field crops entomologist at Michigan State University, says that some of these grubs are buried eight to ten inches and it’s still cold underground, even if the weather warms up for a week.
“Those soils would have to warm up to 50 degrees or more throughout the profile for them to kind of wake up and move, DiFonzo said. “If it’s just a short little worm spell, for most of these insects, they’re under something and it takes a little more than that.”
She doesn’t want to alarm anyone, but DiFonzo said she’s already seen mosquitoes reported around the state.
