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Rap Owings, Agriculture Extension Agent for Rappahannock County, has a warning for Rappahannock alfalfa growers.
“I’ve seen four different farms just recently with severe infestations of the potato leafhopper,” Owings said.
"Farmers making their second cutting should check the re-growth of their alfalfa about a week after cutting to determine if spraying for the potato leafhopper is economically feasible.”
Owings has a leaflet available for farmers who wish to check their alfalfa fields for this serious pest. The VPI Department of Entomology cautions that the leafhopper can cause considerable damage both to yield and quality.
VPI’s publication, called Integrated Peat Management of Potato Leafhopper in Alfalfa identifies the pest and gives a management routine for its control. Damage symptoms are a stunting of the plants and a yellowing of the leaves, often starting as a yellow wedge at the tip of the leaflet. Reddening of the leaves can also occur. Potato leafhopper feeding can cause up to a 25 percent reduction in protein content and a 50 percent reduction in yield. The potato leafhopper is a small yellowish green insect which feeds on the vascular tissue of the plant. Adult leafhoppers are about oneeighth inch long, with a long narrow body and clear shiny wings. Immature stages, or nymphs, are one-sixteenth - one-eighth inch long and are wingless. Leafhoppers are readily distinguished from other alfalfa insects by their bright color, size, shape, and ability to move about rapidly.
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