Army Worms

A cooler spring as we are having in Wisconsin this year reminds me of the days when I was farming here in Central Wisconsin back in the 70s. We had a cooler spring and summer similar to the one we are having this year. A year like this very often brings with it ideal conditions for the moths that produce the eggs that bring forth their army worm offspring. These conditions can bring on major flights of these mother moths and these conditions also seem to be ideal for the survival of the young army worm caterpillars.

So then, whats the big deal about a few little caterpillars? Well, thats what I thought when I first started hearing our local USDA agents warning farmers about the coming invasion. They also warned that army worms were somewhat resistant to certain pesticides. It wasnt long til our local county declared war on the invaders. Driving down our country roads, there were sprayer trucks running through the fields and overhead there were planes dive-bombing the croplands in a spectacular aerial attack, spraying their pesticides in an attempt to stop the advance of the tiny invading enemies.

We soon learned that the worms were a bit selective in their feeding - especially feasting on corn, sorghum and small grains. As they advanced it seemed as if all the human efforts had very little effect as they drew ever closer to my own area and my own fields, leaving only corn stalks and other stubble in their path. During the daytime hours the worms rested ...