 Hello, my name is Jan Knodl. I'm the Extension Entomologist for North Dakota State University. Weedstem soft flies are economically important insect pests of wheat, especially hard-grid spring wheat in North Dakota. The larvae feed internally in the stem, interfering with the flow of water and nutrients to that developing wheat head. This causes a lower yield up to 20% yield loss and also reduces the protein quality in the grain. Later in the season the soft fly moves down and girdles the stem internally and this also causes lodging. This lodging can cause up to 80% yield loss in severe infestations. In 2009 we estimate that we lost between 25 million and 75 million due to wheat stem soft fly in western North Dakota. This video describes how to scout for wheat stem soft fly to determine if you need to swath early and avoid lodging losses. Producers should sample wheat crops to determine the percent plants infested by soft fly before harvest. The presence of wheat stem soft fly can be verified by splitting the stems and looking for an S-shaped larvae about half an inch long and green colored with a dark head inside the stem. Another symptom of soft fly feeding is the presence of sawdust like frass inside the wheat stem. If more than 15% of the stems are infested by soft flies, producers should swath the wheat crop. Producers should swath soft fly infested wheat as soon as the kernel moisture drops below 40% to save infested stems before they lodge. If the producer decides to swath grain, use a high swathing height to conserve the parasitoid that attacks the wheat stem soft fly. If 15% of the crop was cut by soft fly in the current year, a solid stem variety of wheat is recommended for the following wheat planting season. The NDSU hard grid spring wheat variety named Montt was released in 2009 from the North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station and it has the solid stem characteristic that has resistance to the wheat stem soft fly. Thanks for joining me today and learning how to make pest management decisions to determine if you need to swath your grain early to avoid lodging losses due to wheat stem soft fly. Monitoring for insect pests and using viable pest management strategies are important steps in integrated pest management programs. Thank you and have a good day.