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The discovery of soybean aphid, Aphis glycines Matusumura, in North America in 2000 provided the opportunity to investigate the relative strength of top‐down and bottom‐up forces in regulating populations of this new invasive herbivore. At the Kellogg Biological Station Long Term Ecological Research site in agroecology, we contrasted A. glycines establishment and population growth under three agricultural production systems that differed markedly in disturbance and fertility regimes. Agricultural treatments consisted of a conventional‐tillage high‐input system, a no‐tillage high‐input system, and a zero‐chemical‐input system under conventional tillage. By selectively restricting or allowing predator access we simultaneously determined aphid response to top‐down and bottom‐up influences. Irrespective of predator exclusion, our agricultural manipulations did not result in bottom‐up control of A. glycines intrinsic …