I’ve received a few calls about sugarcane beetles damaging corn. I will refer you to a previous article posted on April 5th (link below). There were images of the beetles and their injury in this article.
http://www.utcrops.com/news/2011/04/managing-for-sugarcane-beetles-in-corn/ Continue reading
As reported by NASS on May 9, 2011
STORMS AND FLOODING CONTINUE TO SIGNIFICANTLY DELAY PLANTING
Farmers in East Tennessee were busy assessing storm damage last week as farmers in other areas braced for the effects of widespread flooding. Several acres of wheat were in standing water by week’s end. Departures from normal rainfall totals have reached double-digit levels for most areas of West Tennessee. Corn planting is three weeks behind average. Continue reading
Tennessee has a long enough growing season that any Early, Medium or Full relative maturity hybrid planted well into May will have enough heat units to make a corn crop. As a group, full season hybrids tend to have more ‘southern genetics’ which includes improved tolerance to heat compared to short season hybrids and they are considered first for late planting. However, a big negative for some producers may be the delay in harvest that comes with full hybrids compared to earlier maturity hybrids. Continue reading
Those who aren’t dealing with floodwater are out looking at fields this afternoon to figure out how quickly we can get the planters back in the field. This article is written for those who intend to continue planting corn to fill contracts or to attempt to stay in their planned rotations. We have to assume some yield reduction now compared to what “might have been” but yield penalty will depend so much on our weather this summer it is difficult to predict an amount. I do think there is benefit to planting as much corn as quickly as possible over the next week. Some field work and experience also tells us that managing late planted corn will be slightly different compared to a March or April planted crop. Continue reading
Small corn can usually withstand weather damage much easier than larger corn, especially the type of wind, hail and tornado extremes that blew through the state over the last 2 weeks. However, I wanted to comment about some questions coming in on wind damaged plants. Continue reading
Obviously, there are virtually no current insect problems in corn, cotton or soybeans as almost nothing has been planted. However, the recent weather will have effects on insect management. Below are a few things to think about. Continue reading
As reported by NASS on May 2, 2011
SEVERE STORMS BRING HEAVY RAIN, HALT PLANTING EFFORTS
Damaging storms dumped record-level precipitation in areas and kept farmers out of fields for most of the week, wrapping up a significantly wetter-than-normal April in Tennessee. Farmers in several counties were faced with tornados, flooding, power outages, and livestock losses. Some corn and wheat acreage remained underwater or in saturated soil at week’s end, particularly in West Tennessee. Continue reading
As reported by NASS on April 25, 2011
MORE STORM SYSTEMS PASS THROUGH, INTERRUPT PLANTING
Farmers across Tennessee faced yet another week featuring multiple days of rain. Although storms were scattered and rainfall totals relatively low, conditions in most fields remained wet throughout the week. Continue reading