Richia Was Here 


Update Friday September 24, 2004:  I was quite anxious to see how our corn was doing so I immediately went to the
field today being the first sunny day after a week of torrential rain.  The pictures below speak for themselves - I think
that the rain has magnified the impact of insect damage on the corn ears by favoring the growth of ear molds.  We will
quantify the presence of mycotoxins using a quantitative ELISA test as soon as the corn is harvested.

                                                                                                                                 

Buford is mad! He's got worms in the (corn) ears.

"You told me there will be none of them weserns beans cusworms this year!", Buford
confronted me while sipping truck stop cappuccino near Beresford last Friday.

I was wrong again, Buford.  Indeed, I predicted that, based on the number of moths that we
were catching in the light trap out there in Beresford, western bean cutworms will be negligible
or puny this year.  But hey, even the weather guys make mistakes.

Last Friday (September 3), when I started to examine corn in our Bt-corn proving grounds at
the Southeast Farm, I was surprised that the western bean cutworm (Richia albicosta) made
an appearance again this year.

What is worrisome to me right now is the fact that several rainfall events may still occur before
we finally harvest our corn.  And we do know that injured corn ears plus rainfall equals moldy
seeds at harvest.

Moldy seeds may be a concern for ethanol producers since mycotoxins can end up in the
distiller's grain after the fermentation and distillation processes.

I do have quite an extensive research going this year on the western bean cutworm but
things were not looking good - until I started examining the ears.  All seeds will be analyzed
for fumonisin and aflatoxin again, just like last year.

As I was leaving the truck stop with my very own styrofoam cup of cappuccino (amaretto),
I overheard Buford tell his cousin Johnny, "You know John, I read about this in that book called
The Jellerfish and Them Slug Thing, . . . I think.  Any who, it's by that Thomas feller."

"Not to mention disturbance ecology with transgenic crops being a manmade disturbance
analogous to what that guy who wrote Them Cloudy Lining was talking about," Johnny retorted.

Imagine that, Buford and Johnny discussing disturbance ecology and the hazards of science,
in a truck stop, over styrofoam cups of cappuccino, in South Dakota.


For more information:  Ear is the Achilles' Heel

                                       Cry 1 Ab Crying Over Western Bean?

                                       FDA Fumonisin Guidance

                                       FDA Aflatoxin Guidance



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 Web Posted on Thursday, September 9, 2004 .  Last updated on Monday, October 4, 2004 by Mike Catangui.