As part of this project farmers were surveyed about their soybean planting and management. The results for 2004 and 2005 are summarized in this abstract. In the final paper, the results from the 2006 surveys will be added. In 2004, 11% of the farmers said they treated for soybean aphids compared to 91% of the responding Michigan farmers and 67% of Minnesota farmers in 2005.

In 2004, 81% said that, once a field is treated with an insecticide, soybean aphids could repopulate and cause yield damage in the same year. In 2004, 75% said aphids damaged their soybeans by sucking sap compared to 72% in Michigan and 75% in Minnesota in 2005. In 2004, 77% of the farmers completing the survey said the frequency with which aphids should be treated for profitable control depends on aphid counts, weather conditions, and plant stage compared to 79% in Michigan and 77% in Minnesota in 2005. In 2004, 15% believed that aphids inflict the most yield damage from early vegetative (V5) through early flowering and pod set (R3, maybe R4) compared to 21% in Michigan and 26% in Minnesota in 2005. In 2004, 66% of the farmers completing the survey considered the lowest average aphid density for profitable insecticide spraying to be 250 aphids per plant compared to 75% in Michigan and 68% in Minnesota in 2005.

Over all three states, 84% of the farmers in 2004 said the most important information for making a decision to treat soybean aphids was scouting reports; 54% said plant growth stage was very important in their decision. In 2005, 87% in Michigan and 94% in Minnesota said scouting reports were the very important; 75% in Michigan and 84% in Minnesota said plant growth stage was very important.