Pest problem

Shawn McAvinue asks people in the southern cropping sector how concerned they are about fall armyworm arriving in the South.

RB Rural agronomist Gordon Scott, of Tapanui, in West Otago ... "I’m concerned about it without being overly stressed. What is a bit concerning is there is not anything on label for the control of armyworm in New Zealand. There is overseas. Being able to spray for it is relatively easy, if we can get the products registered. Fall armyworm prefers grasses and cereals and maize is a grass but under drought conditions it would eat anything. We monitor three maize crops in West Otago and haven’t seen anything yet. Fall armyworm doesn’t cope well with a frost so I don’t think there’s much likelihood of it wintering in the South — should we get to the point where we have mild winters then it becomes a much bigger concern."

Mixed cropper Craig Whiteside, of Waiwera South, in South Otago ... "It is a concern — not directly because we don’t grow maize yet, but we will one day. It seems to have travelled down the length of New Zealand pretty quickly. There’s a concern around all biosecurity, whether it’s fall armyworm or any other pest crossing our borders."

Federated Farmers arable chairwoman Sonia Dillon, of Riversdale, in Northern Southland ... "We are concerned because any new pest is an issue — we have enough of them as it is, without new ones — but it should be manageable, as long as there is the chemistry available to do something about it."