The 2019 Weed Control Manual for Tennessee Field Crops, Forage Crops, Pastures, Farm Ponds and Harvest Aids is now posted online. The major change to the 2019 manual is the addition of Engenia, XtendiMax and Fexapan in Xtend crops. Continue reading
Reprint from TDA website https://www.tn.gov/agriculture/news/2018/12/11/corn-checkoff-referendum.html
NASHVILLE – Corn grown in Tennessee will now be promoted on a broader scale, with the establishment of a corn checkoff program.
Tennessee corn producers voted on a statewide checkoff referendum to consider a 1 cent per bushel assessment of corn sold to support in-state promotions of corn. Agriculture Commissioner Jai Templeton authorized the referendum at the request of the Tennessee Corn Growers Association, the state’s largest corn organization.
“We always welcome input from our partners and industry leaders,” Commissioner Templeton said. “Tennessee farmers and landowners should have a say in determining the future of their business. We’re proud that they were given the opportunity to do so.”
Tennessee corn farmers or landowners who share in the production costs or the proceeds of the sale of corn were eligible to vote. Of the producers who cast ballots at local UT Extension offices, 63.9% supported the measure. Of 474 total votes, 303 were in favor of the checkoff.
The funds will be used to finance a program of research, education, market development, marketing, advertising, and other methods designed to promote the increased production, consumption, use, and sale of Tennessee corn products.
Assessments will begin March 1, 2019. Producers who do not want to participate may request a refund of the assessed amount within 90 days of sale.
Tennessee ranks 17 among states for corn acreage in the U.S. According to the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, Tennessee farmers harvested approximately 740,000 acres of corn in 2017, generating more than $418 million.
The corn checkoff vote is November 28-29. In this week’s podcast, questions about voting procedure are answered by Larry Maxwell, Assistant Commissioner, Administration and Grants with the Tennessee Department of Agriculture. Play podcast.
As promised, our 2018 TN corn grain hybrid trial data has been finalized and is now available. Follow these links for the full pdf and all excel tables. We are still working on getting our web-friendly, sortable, and searchable tables up on search.utcrops.com. I’ll post to the blog as soon as they are available, which should be sometime next week.
Due to persistent rain delaying harvest at some locations, our soybean variety trials data is likely still a week or two away, but will be posted as soon as possible!
Visitors to the Milan No-Till Field Day can hear presentations on research involving corn, cotton and soybeans. Due to growing interest in cover crops, two tours (10 total presentations) will be devoted to that topic. New this year – a tour devoted to managing resistance, a tour on fragipans, and a producer-led panel discussing personal experiences with precision agriculture technology. Continue reading
With no reports of southern rust in Tennessee or to the south, it is a relatively quiet disease season in corn, with the exception of grey leaf spot and physioderm brown spot in Tennessee corn. Continue reading
A reminder that weekly moth tap catches for corn earworm (bollworm), tobacco budworm, and southwestern corn borer can be found under the quick links menu under Moth Trapping Data.
With the exception of southwestern corn borers (SWCB) in some locations , we’ve not been catching many moths. Now would be a good time to scout the whorls of any non-Bt corn for the presence of corn borers. Remember that the treatment threshold during the whorl stage is when 5% of plants are infested with SWCB.
Also remember that UT Pest Guides are available at http://guide.utcrops.com/. They provide the latest information of pest identification, sampling, and management in a mobile-friendly, app-like format.