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Corn rootworm pressure returns in eastern Iowa

An eastern Iowa farmer says corn rootworm pressure is back on his farm for a second straight year, but he’s better prepared this go-round.

Lance Lillibridge tells Brownfield corn rootworm knocked down large portions of his corn fields in 2021, making for a difficult harvest season.

“A couple of those spots is where we are seeing some of those adult rootworm beetles,” he said. “We used an insecticide on the planter, and we’re going in and using some insecticide with our fungicide to help control those.”

He says they are already seeing positive results from their management practices.

“Some of those areas where we had issues, our roots actually look pretty good,” Lillibridge said. “Using an insecticide and a traited corn was definitely the right thing to do in those areas. I’m pretty pleased with our root digs and what we’ve seen there.”

Lillibridge says even though corn rootworm is difficult to manage, he’s optimistic about this year’s crop.