Recent Updates

Cotton Tour Today, WEDNESDAY Feb 9th beginning at 8AM @WTREC

cotton tour agendaThe 2026 Cotton Tour is today!  Content this year will cover information on cultivar water use efficiency, seedling diseases, defoliation recommendations for 2026, new findings from the weed control team, and updates on insect control, just to mention a few.  We will have Cajun Cookers close the event with lunch.  Come join us at the West Tennessee Research and Education Center (605 Airways Blvd Jackson, TN 38301) Sept. 9th (later today) from 8AM-12PM.


Cotton Tour Sept. 9th; thoughts on defoliation

The ‘turn’ this year wasn’t much of a turn at all- it was more like a crash.  In this blog, I give a few last minute thoughts on the crop, provide the preferred concoction that I would use on our earliest planted acres that will receive harvest aids, and highlight content we will cover in depth at the upcoming Cotton Tour Sept. 9 (next Wednesday). Continue reading


Agenda set for Cotton Tour, Sept 9th

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cotton tour agendaThe tentative agenda for the 2026 Cotton Tour has been set!  Content this year will cover information on cultivar water use efficiency, seedling diseases, defoliation recommendations for 2026, new findings from the weed control team, and updates on insect control, just to mention a few.  We will have Cajun Cookers close the event with lunch.  Come join us at the West Tennessee Research and Education Center (605 Airways Blvd Jackson, TN 38301) Sept. 9th from 8AM-12PM.


Bollworm/Budworm Trap Catches (8/20/2026)

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These are last weeks bollworm/budworm trap catches. Trap catch numbers are continuing to decrease and we have suspended monitoring for 2026.

Location CEW TBW
Hardeman (Bolivar) 3 0
Fayette (Whiteville) 0 1
Fayette (Somerville) 0 1
Shelby (Millington) 16 1
Tipton (Covington) 0 0
Tipton (North) 3 0
Lauderdale (Golddust) 6 0
Haywood(West) 11 0
Haywood (Brownsville) 2 0
Madison (WTREC) 35 0
Madison (North) 1 0
Crockett (Alamo) 0 0
Crockett (Friendship) 0 0
Dyer (King Rd) 3 0
Dyer (Dyersburg) 8 0
Lake (Ridgely) 17 3
Gibson (Trenton) 0 0
Gibson (Milan Rec) 0 0
Carroll (Coleman Farm) 1 0

Bollworm/Budworm Trap Catches (8/12/2026)

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Location CEW TBW
Hardeman (Bolivar) 8 0
Fayette (Whiteville) 0 0
Fayette (Somerville) 3 0
Shelby (Millington) 9 1
Tipton (Covington) 0 0
Tipton (North) 8 0
Lauderdale (Golddust) 10 1
Haywood(West) 0 0
Haywood (Brownsville) 0 0
Madison (WTREC) 40 0
Madison (North) 9 0
Crockett (Alamo) 0 0
Crockett (Friendship) 6 1
Dyer (King Rd) 8 0
Dyer (Dyersburg) 7 0
Lake (Ridgely) 18 0
Gibson (Trenton) 5 0
Gibson (Milan Rec) 0 0
Carroll (Coleman Farm) 6 0

2026 Wheat OVT data now available; update on program

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wheat field

The typical trial data release post on this blog contains little narrative.  This post is not a typical one.  In addition to providing the links to the 2025-2026 Tennessee Wheat Official Variety Trial Publication, I also recognize the efforts of both Dr. Dennis West and Mr. David R. Kincer for their combined 90+ years of service to Tennessee growers.  Additionally, I briefly share the future plans for the program. Continue reading


Southern Cover Crop Variety Trial – Prelim Results

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Finding a cover crop variety that is adapted to both your region and growing system is critical to maximizing benefits like weed suppression, nitrogen credits, and more. This past year,  we evaluated 21 cover crop varieties across 6 states (AL, KY, FL, GA, LA, & TN). Preliminary data tables showing how these varieties performed both early season and at termination can be found here 25-26 Southern Cover Crop Variety Trial Tables – Prelim. Not seeing the variety you want info on? Check out our archives with previous year’s cover crop variety trial results at https://search.utcrops.com/cover-crops#