Evaluating yield losses from simulated insect defoliation in soybean

Soybeans were manually defoliated during R3, R5, and R6 growth stages to evaluate the utility of current defoliation thresholds. Mississippi, as well as other states within the mid south, use a twenty percent defoliation threshold throughout the reproductive stages. The impacts of defoliation were also evaluated within the upper and lower plant canopy. Results from this two year study will be discussed.