Farmers in Southwest Minnesota are seeing higher infestations of black cut worms than in prior years. That’s according to Bruce Potter, University of Minnesota Extension Integrated Pest Management Specialist.

He says black cut worms like to feast on corn and sugar beets and will also go after alfalfa, soybeans and small grains. Potter says the pests wintered well down south and the winds have brought them to Minnesota.

Potter says the late spring and delay in planting has set conditions up well for black cut worms as they like to go into untilled fields and weedy areas.

Potter says the generic economic threshold for black cut worm in corn is 2 to 3 percent of the plants cut or wilted when the larvae are less than ¾ inch long. That threshold increases to 5 percent cut plants when larvae are larger.