GARDEN CITY, Kan. — Now that this year’s wheat crop has headed, Kansas State University entomologist Phil Sloderbeck wants producers who are getting their bins ready for wheat harvest to think about how to keep old adversaries — in other words, insects — out of the grain.
"Whether storing seed wheat or the entire wheat crop, storage areas need to be cleaned thoroughly and sprayed with an insecticide prior to filling with this year's harvest," said Sloderbeck, who is the entomology state leader with K-State Research and Extension. "This needs to be done several days prior to harvest so that the insecticide has time to work before new grain is put into the bin."
Producers should also make sure that any other grain stored on the farm is free from insect infestation prior to harvest.
That reduces the chance of insects' moving from one bin to another, he said. Any infested grain should be sold, disposed of or fumigated. Even small quantities of old grain can serve as the source of insects to infest this year's grain.
If grain will be stored on the farm for more than a few weeks, producers probably will want to consider using a grain protectant to treat the grain as the bins are being filled, Sloderbeck said.
To help make producers make decisions on the type of insecticides they can use to treat bins or grain going into long-term storage, K-State entomologists have posted on the Web such resources as http://www.entomology.ksu.edu/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=628. In addition, a publication entitled "Stored Grain Insects, Part III: Structural sprays, pest strips, protectants and surface sprays" is available at: http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/library/entml2/MF917.PDF.
Pratt, Kan. —
