b'year and I dont think Ive ever heard of them being a problem in a particular area for three years in a row.Wist says that unless a farmer eyeballs wheat head armyworms in their field or on a combine they may never know they were there since the damage they cause appears very similar to the harm inflicted by grasshoppers and other insects.Recent reports have indicated the presence of wheat head armyworms in Alberta in areas such as Beiseker, Three Hills and Drumheller. Meers says that while there was quite a bit of buzz about the pest last year, he hasnt heard of it being a problem during harvest this year. Wheat head armyworms tend to do most of their damage just prior to harvest.So, what can farmers do to determine whether or not this insidious pest is present in their field before its too late? Meers says his recommendation is growers should get out and scout their fields beginning in late July. They may want to bring along a sweep net to conduct a sampling of each field to confirm the presence of wheat head armyworms.Theres no substitute to getting A cluster of cortesia wasps on a wheat head armyworm. Cortesia wasps lay eggsout into your field and looking. on wheat head armyworms, hatching a week to 10 days later and then chewing their way out of the wheat head armyworm body killing them.Having said that, picking up PHOTO: TYLER WIST that one field or patch, its still Pedigreed Seed a bit of a hit or miss thing. Varieties Available: Scott MeersCDC Copland BarleyAAC Synergy BarleyCDC Austenson BarleyAAC Connect BarleyAAC Wheatland WheatThe only thing you can do is to get out in your field and AC Sadash Wheat wander through it. I know the average farmer now has 4,000 or AAC Viewfield Wheat 5,000 acres so they might have 1,000 acres of wheat and thats AAC Redberry Wheata problem, he explains. But theres no substitute to getting out CDC Spectrum Peas into your field and looking. Having said that, picking up that one field or patch, its still a bit of a hit or miss thing.Services Provided: The good news when it comes to wheat head armyworms is Seed Cleaning that they have been parasitized by the Cotesia genus of wasps. Seed TreatmentExport/Domestic Transloading These wasps will lay eggs in the wheat head armyworms, which Intertek Lab Onsite hatch about a week to 10 days later and then begin chewing their way out of the body of the armyworm to deadly effect.Wist says the Cotesia are sometimes referred to as field heroes because they can reduce the threat posed by wheat head armyworms. He said its usually easy to detect the presence of Cotesia because clusters of their white pupal cocoons will appear on the awns, or leaf blades, of a wheat plant. If there are signs of Cotesia clusters, Wist explains its a good bet that there CEO: Blair Peregrym Email: [email protected] are wheat head armyworms present in a field or that they were Orders: [email protected] recently there.Part of what makes it difficult to deal with wheat head Phone: 403-934-3421 www.Strathmoreseed.ca armyworms is the fact that very little research has been done 100seed.ab.ca'