Fall armyworm has become a major pest in the Kununurra region, of north-east Western Australia, since arriving in the area approximately four years ago.
Kalyn Fletcher, who grows seed and grain crops in the region, said it was particularly prevalent in maize and had been challenging to control across the years.
Initially, they tried viruses and a range of chemicals, and this year turned to Intrepid Edge® insecticide with Jemvelva® active, from Corteva Agriscience, as the preferred option.
“I did a webinar earlier in the year put on by GRDC,” Kalyn said. “There was an agronomist from Dalby who mentioned he tried Intrepid Edge and had really good results with it. I ordered enough to do every paddock once just in case I needed it.”
Corn crops in the area are planted in May and harvested in September and this season the first issues with fall armyworm on the property came in a paddock adjacent to a neighboring corn crop that had been planted earlier.
“We had high pressure really early and so we did two sprays of Intrepid Edge – one when the crop was 30 days old and then again at 45 days,” Kalyn said.
A high clearance, self-propelled spray rig was used for the early applications.
“It went right into the leaf, and we just had amazing results with it. We were pulling leaves out and three to four inches down there were dead grubs.”
Kalyn said, if left unchecked, fall armyworm will destroy the leaf area and growth points and the maize crop will not recover.
“If we didn't spray, we would have lost the crop. Fall armyworm is progressively getting worse and is a major cost – it could potentially wipe corn out from being viable.”
“I think if we can get confidence in products that work and they stay working, that is half the challenge.”
In the early years, an aerial spray at tasseling was used to control the pest, but now there is a program from the start of the crop through to the finish.
Kalyn said other paddocks on the property did not have the same pressure as the initial one and Intrepid Edge was used selectively to control the pests at different times in these areas.
“We sprayed the paddock that had the really high damage twice, but with the rest we didn’t need to because the first application was so impressive. This is, by far, the most effective thing I've seen. We were very, very happy with the result.”
She said the area was quite isolated from the rest of Australia, but they were able to get excellent advice from agronomists locally and in Katherine, in the Northern Territory.
Seed and chemical reps also provided excellent insights into how fall armyworm and other challenges were being met in other parts of the country.
The enterprise grows hybrid sorghum seed and rotates with corn every second year. Corn has been used for over 20 years and is an important crop in the region.
“The whole valley tends to grow Pioneer 1837 which is a gritting option and lends itself to several markets. It’s a good consistent yielding product that can be exported through a local farmer cooperative and there is also a strong domestic feed market.”
Always refer to the approved label and follow label directions when using Intrepid Edge.
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