UF/IFAS Asks Cattle Producers to Watch Pastures for Spreading Mealybug

A pest moving north from sugarcane country

The University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences has issued a call for producers, extension agents and industry consultants statewide to scout for pasture mealybug, an insect pest that UF/IFAS says has now been confirmed in 22 Florida counties. The announcement, posted Aug. 20 by UF/IFAS Assistant Professor Niguss Hailegnaw and Forage Extension Specialist Marcelo Wallau, does not name Levy County among the confirmed counties, but the pest’s range and behavior are relevant to any Nature Coast operation running cattle on improved pasture.

Pasture mealybug has been causing significant damage to sugarcane and pastures in South Florida. UF/IFAS is explicit that the insect has “the potential to spread to many other grass species in both cultivated and natural areas” — language that extends the concern beyond sugarcane growers to the broader cattle and hay industry that anchors much of Levy County’s rural economy.

What UF/IFAS is asking for

This is not a regulatory action or a new rule. It is a research and data-collection request. UF/IFAS wants producers, consultants or local extension agents to collect paired soil and plant tissue samples: one set from areas where mealybugs are present, and a second “control” set from nearby, similarly managed land with no visible infestation. The goal, according to the researchers, is to determine whether nutrient deficiencies in soil or plant tissue make sugarcane and pasture grasses more vulnerable to the pest — a pattern they say has emerged from grower observations and field feedback.

The sampling method is simple by design: a soil probe or shovel, a bucket, shears or a pocketknife, and paper bags (or plastic if paper isn’t available). UF/IFAS instructs samplers to begin in the least-infested area first, a precaution meant to avoid carrying the pest into clean ground on tools or equipment.

Why this matters for Levy County

Levy County’s agricultural base includes significant cattle and forage operations, and Nature Coast pastures share the same grass species — bahiagrass and others — that UF/IFAS says are at risk as pasture mealybug’s range expands. No infestation has been reported locally as of this writing, and the confirmed county list published by UF/IFAS does not include Levy. But the university’s own framing treats the pest as one still spreading, not contained, and local producers watching for stunted or discolored grass, sticky residue, or visible white, waxy insect clusters on stems and leaves have a direct channel to contribute data through their county extension office.

For ranchers, the practical takeaway is low-cost vigilance rather than any mandated action: there is no quarantine, treatment order or state directive tied to this announcement. UF/IFAS frames it as voluntary citizen-science support for a management study, with results intended to shape future recommendations on reducing pasture susceptibility to the insect.

What to watch

There is no public comment period attached to this effort, since it is a research call rather than a rulemaking action. Producers interested in participating, or in learning whether pasture mealybug has been reported nearby, can contact their local UF/IFAS Extension office — in Levy County, that is the county Extension service that already fields cattle and forage questions from area ranchers. UF/IFAS has not published a deadline for sample submission in the material released so far, and Florida & Cedar Key News will follow up with the Levy County Extension office to confirm whether any local scouting has begun and whether the pest has turned up on the Nature Coast.