| 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 |
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
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#
With many of our cotton acres at or past cutout, wrapping up insect control is coming quickly. We’re beginning to see a general decline in plant bug populations but stink bugs continue to linger with numbers increasing.
Keep in mind that the average last effective bloom date is right around the corner (August 15-20th). This is the average date that a white flower has a 50% chance of making a harvestable boll. It is a roll of the dice whether bolls set after this date have time to mature before a frost. For late maturing fields that are just now or have not reached NAWF5, it is still advisable to continue to good insect management practices for 2-3 weeks to allow these last bolls to accumulate enough heat units to be relatively safe from insect attack.
Once cotton reaches NAWF 5, accumulated heat units (DD60s) determine when individual insect pests no longer pose an economic threat. Recommended termination thresholds are:
In soybean, insecticide termination is determined by reproductive growth stage, primarily between R6 (full seed) and R7 (beginning maturity). Correctly identifying these stages is critical for deciding when additional insecticide applications are unlikely to provide an economic return.
Recommended termination stages by pest include:
| Location | CEW | TBW |
| Hardeman (Bolivar) | 3 | 0 |
| Fayette (Whiteville) | 1 | 0 |
| Fayette (Somerville) | 2 | 0 |
| Shelby (Millington) | 10 | 0 |
| Tipton (Covington) | 0 | 0 |
| Tipton (North) | 0 | 0 |
| Lauderdale (Golddust) | 0 | 0 |
| Haywood(West) | 5 | 4 |
| Haywood (Brownsville) | 0 | 0 |
| Madison (WTREC) | 47 | 0 |
| Madison (North) | 12 | 1 |
| Crockett (Alamo) | 0 | 0 |
| Crockett (Friendship) | 8 | 2 |
| Dyer (King Rd) | 8 | 0 |
| Dyer (Dyersburg) | 17 | 0 |
| Lake (Ridgely) | 13 | 0 |
| Gibson (Trenton) | 12 | 0 |
| Gibson (Milan Rec) | 3 | 0 |
| Carroll (Coleman Farm) | 10 | 0 |
As we roll into and quickly through August, I usually cycle this topic back to the top with any updates as the time for making the desiccation decision is quickly approaching. With all of the early-soybean acres planted in 2026, desiccation calls have come a litter sooner this year as well.
As we approach the historical last effective bloom dates later this month, I thought it might be appropriate to look at Tennessee’s 2026, relative to the past ten years. In this blog, I briefly cover our season and make some comments on what to expect in the coming weeks.
