A single laboratory study on monarch butterflies has prompted widespread concern that corn pollen, engineered to express Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) endotoxin, might travel beyond corn fields and cause mortality in nontarget lepidopterans. Among the lepidopterans at high potential risk from this technology is the black swallowtail butterfly, Papilio polyxenes, whose host plants in the midwester...

Moisture content is an important factor in corn breeding and cultivation. A corn breed with low moisture at harvest is beneficial for mechanical operations, reduces drying and storage costs after harvesting and, thus, reduces energy consumption. Nondestructive measurement of kernel moisture in an intact corn ear allows us to select corn varieties with seeds that have high dehydration speeds in ...

BACKGROUND Interest in the cultivation of biomass crops like the C4 grass Miscanthus x giganteus (Miscanthus) is increasing as global demand for biofuel grows. In the US, Miscanthus is promoted as a crop well-suited to the Corn Belt where it could be cultivated on marginal land interposed with maize and soybean. Interactions (direct and indirect) of Miscanthus, maize, and the major Corn Belt pe...

Corn rootworm (CRW) beetles exhibit a univoltine life cycle. Feral adults deposit their eggs into the soil of cornfields during July and August where they undergo diapause and overwinter. The following spring eggs hatch beginning in late May and continuing on into the middle part of June. Larvae of the new generation feed on developing corn roots. After reaching the third instar larvae pupate i...

When glyphosate is applied to glyphosate-resistant (GR) crops, drift to nonglyphosate-resistant (non-GR) crops may cause significant injury and reduce yields. Tools are needed to quantify injury and predict crop losses. In this study, glyphosate drift was simulated by direct application at 12.5% of the recommended label rate to non-GR corn (Zea mays L.) at 3 or 6 weeks after planting (WAP) duri...

The effects of maize (Zea mays L.) phenology on establishment and adult emergence of the western corn rootworm (Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte) and plant damage to maize was evaluated in field trials in 2001 and 2002 and in the greenhouse. Although neonate western corn rootworm larvae were able to initially establish on maize roots during anthesis and early reproductive stages, these ol...

Disposal of yard waste on farmland could help reduce the need for additional landfill disposal sites and should help improve soil quality and productivity. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of disposal of yard waste compost (YWC) on production of field corn (Zea mays) and vegetables. Several on-farm and experiment station studies were conducted from 1993 to 1994. Corn fora...

field experiments were conducted to determine the influence of single and multispecies competition of common cocklebur (xanthium strumarium l.) and jimsonweed (datura stramonium l.) on corn yield and further the competitive abilities of these weeds .common cocklebur and jimsonweed were established at selected densities within 15 cm on either side of the corn row. common cocklebur and jimsonweed...

The presence of a large amount root residues after harvesting corn creates problems for the processing field. On basis field and laboratory studies, character weediness main physical morphological characteristics rhizomes were revealed. Analysis variation curves dimensional mass graphical dependences made it possible to develop general approach freeing fields from plant corn.

The potential to increase parasitism by Cotesia marginiventris through response to chemical signals emitted by herbivore-damaged plants was investigated in corn and cotton field plots. Recruitment of feral C. marginiventris adult females was measured by increased parasitism. Spodoptera frugiperda larvae placed in the field plots and then recollected experienced a mean rate of parasitism of appr...