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A Visible Difference in Black Cutworm Control

Corn fields in the central and southern Corn Belt recently experienced a widespread occurrence of black cutworm damage, severe enough in many cases to meet or surpass the economic threshold for treatment. While growers were assessing damage, they also were able to see the difference between technologies. Plots were established to better understand the level of black cutworm protection growers may see with various seed technologies.

In a side-by-side comparison of triple-stacked corn hybrids in Peoria County, Illinois, there is a noticeable difference between Pioneer® brand hybrids stacked with Herculex® XTRA^ insect protection and other technologies.

The field was artificially infested with black cutworms in order to test corn hybrids with different technologies for black cutworm control.

Pioneer® brand hybrid 33D14 with Herculex® XTRA^ provided excellent protection against black cutworm pressure, while DeKalb DKC63-42 containing YieldGard® VT™ Triple did not protect the corn plant from black cutworms.

In this video, Ben Herrmann, corn grower and Pioneer sales representative in Edelstein, IL, shows the impact black cutworms had on two triple-stacked corn hybrids and compares the difference in technologies for black cutworm control.

Watch Video Watch (WMV | 8 MB | 4:12)

Click on any of the photos below for larger images.
Photo - Pioneer sales representative and corn grower Ben Herrmann assessing black cutworm damage
Pioneer sales representative and corn grower Ben Herrmann is assessing black cutworm damage and placing orange flags next to each cut plant of Dekalb DKC63-42 containing YieldGard® VT Triple. Visible damage surfaced in DKC63-42 approximately 12 hours following the infestation, with a wilted appearance in the leaves and plant damage just below the soil line.
Photo - black cutworms damage to corn stalk
The damage is apparent in fields that do not contain Herculex® XTRA insect protection. In this field in Peoria County, IL, black cutworms severed DeKalb DKC63-42 even though it was treated with Poncho® 250 insecticide.

Photo - black cutworms damage to corn stalk
After three days of infestation in side-by-side comparisons of two triple-stacked corn hybrids, orange flags show the plants that were damaged by black cutworms. To the right of the diagonal line is Pioneer® brand hybrid 33D14 with Herculex® XTRA. On the left side of the photo are rows of DeKalb DKC63-42 containing YieldGard® VT Triple which show heavy damage from black cutworms.

® YieldGard and YieldGard VT Triple™ are trademarks of Monsanto Technology LLC.
Last Modified:June 20, 2007
Herculex Insect Protection technologyHXX
Herculex® Insect Protection technology by Dow AgroSciences and Pioneer Hi-Bred. ® Herculex and the HX logo are registered trademarks of Dow AgroSciences LLC.
® Poncho is a registered trademark of Bayer.
Market Choices

^ Grain harvested from products that bear this mark is fully approved for food and feed use in the United States and Japan, but is not approved in the European Union. You must find a market for this crop that will not ship this grain or its processed products to Europe. Appropriate markets for this grain include: domestic feed use or grain handlers that specifically agree to accept this grain and handle it appropriately. For more information on your grain market options, go to the American Seed Trade Association's website at www.amseed.org or call your seed supplier.

MARKET CHOICES is a certification mark used under license from ASTA.

Know Before You Grow(SM), an information service provided by National Corn Growers Association at www.ncga.com.