White Sugarcane Aphids are a pest of grain sorghum that showed up in the county a few weeks ago. Thomas County has just over 1,000 acres of sorghum with high populations of WSCA. Brooks County Agents Ben Shirley and Stephanie Hollifield confirmed WSCA in Brooks County this week. The EPA has approved a Section 18 request for use of Transform insecticide on sorghum. See White Sugarcane Aphids blog post below for more information on WSCA.
Here is information from David Buntin, UGA Grain Crop Entomologist:
A Section 18 Emergency Use Exception for Transform WG insecticide on sorghum has been approved for the state of Georgia as of September, 11, 2014. Transform WG may be applied to grain and forage sorghum for control of sugarcane aphid from now until November 30, 2014. Additional details of the product use are as follows:
Foliar applications may be made by ground or air at a rate of EITHER 0.75-1.5 oz of product (0.023-0.047 lb a.i.) per acre with a maximum of 2 applications per acre per year OR 1.0 oz of product (0.03 lb a.i.) per acre with a maximum of 3 applications per acrew per year; resulting in a seasonal mazimum application rate of 3.0 oz of product (0.09 lb a.i.) per acre per year.
The minimum application retreatment interval of 14 days and a restricted entry interval (REI) of 24 hours must be observed.
A 7-day pre-harvest interval (PHI) for forage and a 14-day PHI for grain or stover must be observed.
A maximum of 50,000 acres of sorghum fields (grain and forage) may be treated in Georgia.
This product is highly toxic to bees exposed through contact curing spraying and while spray droplets are still wet. This product may be toxic to bees exposed to treated foliage for up to 3 hours following application. Toxicity is reduced when spray droplets are dry. Risk to managed bees and native pollinators from contact with pesticide spray or residues can be minimized when applications are made before 7:00 am or after 7:00 pm local time or when the temperature is below 55 degrees F at the site of application.
The registered product, Transform TM WG (EPA Reg. No. 62719-625; 50% sulfoxaflor), manufactured by Dow AgroSciences, may be applied. All applicable direction, restrictions, and precautions on the EPA-registered Section 3 label, as well as those outlined in the Section 18 use directions, except as modified by this authorization must be followed.
Thomas County Ag 