TEXAS (KAUZ) – The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service has updated its treatment options for pasture mealybug.
First identified in Texas in July 2025, pasture mealybug has been identified in 79 Texas counties and imminently threatens dozens more, according to Texas A&M AgriLife.
This pest is associated with a syndrome termed “pasture dieback,” a condition that kills patches of pasture grasses.
AgriLife said this condition is identified by reddening or yellowing leaves, stunted growth and root reduction, with noteworthy threatened pasture grasses including Bermuda grass, Bahia and bluestem, as well as turfgrasses.
AgriLife reports that the pest spreads via contaminated haying equipment and possibly hay bales. Producers moving equipment between pastures are encouraged to clean machinery, vehicles and boots when moving between infested and clean areas.
The Texas A&M AgriLife fact sheet can be found here.
AgriLife Extension’s updated fact sheet provides the latest approved treatment recommendations as well as identification tips and monitoring guidance.
To help forage producers and ranchers respond, AgriLife Extension’s updated pasture mealybug fact sheet provides use recommendations for Centric 40WG, with dozens of field trials in infested pastures around the state showing Centric 40WG provided consistent, strong control of the pest.
“This has been the top performer in all our trials and the product we focused our label emergency exemption effort toward.
We’re glad Texas producers now have an effective tool against this devastating pest.”
More on the pasture mealybug and treatment options can be found in Texas A&M AgriLife’s “AgriLife Extension updates fact sheet with new pasture mealybug treatment” by Adam Russell.
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