The pre-harvest interval is the number of days that must pass between the last application of a pesticide and cutting of the crop. Cutting is either swathing or straight cutting. In the table below, insecticides with the shortest pre-harvest intervals still require 7 days between spraying and cutting, so if the field is within a week of cutting, then spraying is no longer an option. In the case of lygus control, many pods are hardening and lygus will not be able to penetrate effectively to cause damage anyway.