The UT Cotton Scout School is scheduled for the last Friday of the month, May 27th, at the West Tennessee Research and Education Center (605 Airways Blvd, Jackson). There is no fee, and preregistration is not required. Registration begins at 8:00 AM with the program starting at 8:30. Content will include classroom and hands-on training with an optional go-to-the-field session after lunch. Topics covered will include cotton development and identification and symptoms of insect pests, plant diseases, and weeds.
The thrips infestation predictor tool uses planting date, precipitation, and temperature to create an estimate of the size of local thrips population and the susceptibility of seedling cotton to infestations of tobacco thrips (the predominate thrips species in Tennessee). Models can be run for two weeks beyond the current date. Planting decisions should be made based on weather, opportunity and agronomic considerations not based on this model. The model is useful for predicting/anticipating the need for a thrips overspray in addition to an insecticide seed treatment.
Utilizing the model is simple, users select a planting date and a location based on an interactive map. The model will predict thrips risk for planting dates in a designated time frame. As an example, cotton planted before May 5th in West Tennessee has a somewhat lower risk than cotton planted on May 15th. If you look at the within season model, cotton planted May 21- 31 has a much higher risk of thrips infestations than cotton planted in early May. Beware, the accuracy of this model often improves as we approach the intended planting date and rerunning the model as you get closer to planting is a good practice. This tool has helped us time our planting of thrips trials to maximize thrips numbers and will hopefully help you do the opposite.
Thrips risk from April 25 to May 15 (Red is bad)Within season risk from April 1 to May 31 (Red is bad)Risk for April 1 through May 31
UT is implementing a new method of sending information to agricultural professionals. Remind is texted based communication system that facilitates information delivery via text or push notification. Messages are limited in length and recipients can directly message senders with questions. Enrolling is free and easy and takes less than a minute. Follow the instructions below to enroll in a crop specific class (cotton, corn, soybean, wheat or tobacco).
