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Auburn, May 25---Farmers are always battling some type of problem it seems, and right now, the problem for many is insects. Cotton farmers are dealing with several insect pests at the moment says an entomologist with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System.

Dr. Ron Smith, whose work focuses on the pests of cotton, says cutworms are a widespread problem for the state's cotton farmers.

"Cutworms' emergence as a cotton pest is somewhat a result of increased use of conservation tillage methods," says Smith. "Cutworms are the larval form of a particular family of moths. The females lay their eggs in the dry organic matter left on the soil surface by conservation tillage. This is an excellent food source for cutworms and then they attack other plants, including cotton seedlings. Cutworms can really decimate a stand."

Smith says cutworms are just part of the territory these days for Alabama cotton farmers. He says the best control for these pests is to prevent an outbreak.

"Farmers are having good success keeping them under control by applying pyrethroid insecticides at planting," Smith says. "It costs them less than a dollar an acre and it just makes economic sense to use those control measures."

Another insect is a growing problem in Alabama cotton fields: that pest, the grasshopper.

"For the third consecutive year, we have had to deal with grasshoppers in cotton fields. They can devastate a stand of young cotton seedlings if a farmer does not use some type of control," says Smith.

"Their emergence as a new pest of cotton may also be related to increased use of conservation tillage. Grasshoppers benefit from the increased food source much the same way as cutworms do," he says. "But the grasshopper problem may also relate to the extremely dry weather we have experienced over the last several years."

As with cutworms, Smith says it's best to use an insecticide control on grasshoppers prior to the cotton seedling's emergence from the ground. They can be controlled by several insecticides.

One insect problem has just about resolved itself for the year.

Smith says this spring farmers saw the worst outbreak of true armyworms in the state in 30 years.

"I don't think I can recall a worse year for true armyworms."

True armyworms are an almost annual spring phenomenon, but the good news is that usually only one generation of the insect causes problems to economic crops such as small grains, corn and fescue pastures.

Smith cautions that true armyworms should not be confused with either beet armyworms or fall armyworms. Both these pests occur later in the growing season and usually do more economic damage than true armyworms.