A survey of field corn producers and stakeholders in North and South Carolina

Field corn, Zea mays L., is one of the most important crops in the Southeastern field crop landscape. There are several insect pests of field corn, namely a complex of stink bugs and the corn earworm, Helicoverpa zea (Boddie), that are considered to be either yield limiting factors in corn (i.e. stink bugs) or in the greater field crop landscape (i.e. corn earworm). Producer perception of the relative importance of these, and other, pests on field crop production has not been extensively studied in the Southeast. Additionally, the management strategies producers implement and their understanding of these strategies in the context of an integrated pest management scheme are under reported. The implementation of Bt resistance management, namely non-Bt refuge planting in corn, is critical for corn earworm management on the landscape level. Quantifying the level of producer implementation and the perceived barriers to that implementation is important for understanding how to better promote refuge and resistance management strategies through extension. A survey of field corn producers and stakeholders was conducted in 2021 and 2022 in North and South Carolina to better understand these factors. Results of these surveys have illustrated the most commonly used practices for managing these pests, some producer justification for implementation of different management strategies, the level of Bt resistance management use, and producer understanding of the concepts of IPM in the Southeast.