{"id":107051,"date":"2025-02-19T13:34:33","date_gmt":"2025-02-19T18:34:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/news\/?p=107051"},"modified":"2025-02-27T12:25:32","modified_gmt":"2025-02-27T17:25:32","slug":"expansion-of-corn-crop-pest-into-new-england-a-possibility-umaine-study-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/news\/blog\/2025\/02\/19\/expansion-of-corn-crop-pest-into-new-england-a-possibility-umaine-study-finds\/","title":{"rendered":"Expansion of corn crop pest into New England a possibility, U91جزة« study finds\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

While New England is well known for commodities such as maple syrup, wild blueberries and cranberries, its reputation for sweets extends to another crop: sweet corn. The 2023-24 crop production report<\/a> from the U.S. Department of Agriculture showed the region produced just under 3 million tons of corn, of which Vermont contributed approximately half and 91جزة« 500,000 tons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Corn growers in New England could face a new challenge in the coming years. A study<\/a> from the 91جزة« projected that a corn crop pest that is already present in the region may begin to have a more noticeable effect on crops as temperatures warm and winters become more mild. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The corn flea beetle is a common pest in the Corn Belt \u2014 the north-central Midwest region expanding through Ohio, Nebraska and Kansas \u2014 that damages plant foliage and carries a bacteria that causes Stewart\u2019s Wilt, a disease that impacts crop health and productivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rachel Schattman, assistant professor of sustainable agriculture at U91جزة«, led the study. Schattman and Scott Merrill, a systems ecologist at the University of Vermont, conducted their research by combining temperature forecasts with two existing agricultural models to show how changing climate could impact corn flea beetle infestations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Farmers and agriculture-adjacent professionals use models to predict the seasonal threat of Stewart\u2019s Wilt, but current ones don\u2019t take into account how climate is changing. Schattman and Merrill used data from PRISM<\/a>, a forecast system based at Oregon State University, to integrate temperature projections into the existing models. Their research focused on three time periods: 1980-2011, 2049-2059 and 2089-2099. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schattman and Merrill analyzed temperature data through each model individually and then by taking averages of the two models combined. One of the agricultural models summates the mean temperatures of winter months, and the other calculates crop damage based on the temperatures of winter months. All three models showed that the corn flea beetle and threat of Stewart\u2019s Wilt is likely to expand in the Northeast, increasing the probability of severe crop damage. <\/p>\n\n\n