Drop-Tine Podcast -The official deer management, food plot & habitat podcast · Jason R. Snavely

Part 1: Fall Armyworms Don't Eat Healthy Food Plots! (or any pest insect for that matter!)

·1 hr 31 min·5 clips

Dykstra says insects remove the unhealthy, sick, and dying while deer want the healthy forage.

Jason comes in hot and says he wants to change how people look at pest insects. He brings in Dr. Thomas Dykstra from Gainesville, Florida, and the banter is loose right away. Jason jokes that he has been on plenty of wildlife and deer podcasts, and Tom plays along. The host keeps circling back to the idea that pest insects should be viewed differently. Tom takes the conversation into Brix. He explains that the measure has long been used in fruit, beer, oranges, and grapes to judge quality. He says the broader use of Brix on plant leaves became more common in the 1970s and 1980s, with Kerry Reams and others helping drive that shift. The basic move was to squeeze leaf juice and read it with a refractometer. Tom makes it clear that one leaf usually is not enough. Smaller leaves need a stack, while bigger leaves can sometimes be tested with less. Jason folds that explanation back into his own field routine. He says he carries a refractometer in the same bag with other tools, and he describes crushing up neighbor soybean leaves wrapped in neonic treatment and squeezing out the juice. The conversation keeps coming back to what those readings mean for management, and Jason frames the episode as part of a move toward toxin-free management. He says Tom was instrumental in pushing him in that direction. The episode also turns to gear. Jason mentions the VG refractometer brand and says he uses the BTX-1. He notes that a digital model is probably what he would buy now. He plans to post pictures on the Drop Time Podcast Facebook and Instagram pages and invites feedback at droptimepodcast.com. The whole thing is a conversational walkthrough of plant health, insect pressure, and the tools people use to read a stand of vegetation.

As heard by us

Field talk that turns insects, sap, and soil health into one practical argument.

The episode starts by treating pest insects from a different angle, with Jason laying out the idea in a long setup before the discussion turns technical.

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Why you'd press play

When you want a blunt, practical take on pest insects and leaf-juice testing.

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