An article entitled “New invasive vegetable pest found in Michigan” is one of several on the same subject that were published in several venues in Oct. 2015, and it caught my attention. The leading sentence of the article states “A potentially serious threat to Michigan’s cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and other crucifers has been found in the state for the first time in five organic production fields in Sanilac County”.

First, I really do like cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, turnips, and kale (don’t care for Brussels sprouts so much), so I am concerned about the seriousness of this finding. If this pest is allowed to spread by not being controlled, my food supply is potentially disrupted and/or the price of some of my favorite vegetables will increase significantly.

Second, the invasive pest is the Swede midge, and its developing larvae cause injury to young plant tissues, resulting in the death of the growing tip. To quote from the article, “Swede midge is a threat to both conventional and organic growers, but organic growers may be at greater risk because they lack effective chemical control options”. Actually, organic growers are at greater risk because there are no effective insecticides that meet organic standards; thus, the above statement is a little misleading.

According to information from Cornell University and DuPont, Swede midge can be effectively controlled with insecticides. Much like the sorghum midge, this pest is very hard to see, and by the time damage is visible, it’s too late to mitigate damage caused by the pest. The best option then is to initiate insecticide treatments before transplanting the crucifer crops, and then use intense scouting and pheromone traps to monitor for and detect infestations of this pest early so that subsequent insecticide applications can be made to prevent egg laying. Anything less than this approach to managing this pest invites disaster in the production of crucifers.

You may ask, “Why is this a subject for a soybean website?”. That is a good question, and my reasons for posting this here follow.

• Invasive insect pests are a threat to all crops. In this case, what happens if this pest or any new invasive pest cannot be controlled in organic systems? Will it decimate those crops?


• Will this or any other uncontrolled pest in organic systems be continually available to invade the same crops of conventional growers who then must constantly spray insecticides to control them because the pest is uncontrolled in organic systems?


• If the previous point is in fact a reality, should organic producers be held accountable for this constant threat?


• Why isn’t the organic certification process flexible enough to allow use of synthetic pesticides in a case of this magnitude? If it is not, then this inflexibility obviously means that strict adherence to organic certification regulations is considered a priority at all costs, even at the risk of endangering or losing secure production of high-quality food.

It seems to me that the above example of a difficult-to-manage pest shows that a rigid system of production, whether it be organic or conventional, is not practical or feasible. That is why conventional agriculture production systems have flexibility in all phases of production; e.g., tillage system, variety selection, GM vs. conventional varieties, organic vs. synthetic fertilizers, and judicious use of pesticides. This is the system of production that will provide the increased yields and improved quality of foodstuffs that will feed the world’s ever increasing population.

In my opinion, this is a prime case for believing in a science-based agriculture production system that relies on safe and effective pesticide tools to meet the challenges that constantly bombard and threaten food and feedstuff production.

So here is the conundrum. Will our future be ruled by those who choose to be rigid in the production of our food, or will common sense prevail so that our food production can be based on a system of flexibility that will allow new problems and challenges to be addressed and managed with the best and safest tools available? I don’t have the answer, but I can predict which view will be necessary if we are to feed a growing world population.

Composed by Larry G. Heatherly, Oct. 2015, larryheatherly@bellsouth.net