The weather forecast, if accurate, suggests next week will dry up enough where we all can get back in the field. Everyone will need to be running sprayers as weeds have not stopped growing. I know everyone will be in a rush, but please, please take the time to be good stewards and apply herbicides as directed by the labels. Continue reading
UT’s Soybean Scout Schools will be held in July (see details below). These field-side programs cover the basics of soybean growth, scouting, pest identification, and general management. Pesticide recertification and CCA CEU points will be available. Scout Schools are offered free of charge with sponsorship from the Tennessee Soybean Promotion Board. Registration is not required. Participants will receive a scouting notebook and a sweep net while supplies last.
West TN – Madison County, July 15th, 9:00 AM – 11:30 AM. This school will be held at the West TN Research and Education Center, 605 Airways Blvd. Jackson TN, 38301. Signs will be up at the station to direct you to the field. Contact Sebe Brown for more information. 318-498-1283, sbrow175@utk.edu.
Middle TN – Robertson County, July 17th, 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM. This school will be held at 5233 Belt Rd, Springfield, TN 37172. Contact Timmy Mann for more information. 615-384-7936, tmann1@utk.edu.
East TN – Monroe County, July 16th, 12:00 PM to 3:00 PM. This school will be held at 501 Main Street, Madisonville, TN 37354. Contact Jonathan Rhea for more information. 423-442-2433, jrhea@utk.edu.
JACKSON, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture will host the annual Weed Tour June 18 at the West Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center. The guided tour will feature 60 weed management research tests in cotton, corn and soybean.
Weed Tour runs from 9 – 11:30 a.m., with registration opening at 8:30 a.m. Continue reading
How do you accurately growth-stage corn once the coleoptile has fallen off? Grab your favorite knife and slice a few plants… 
This has been a tough week, with many walking cotton planted in mid to late May to find stands thinner with more gaps than acres planted in April. The number of cotton acres within the state appears to be decreasing despite several growers still planting. Subsequently, in the past few days, I’ve had calls complaining about seedling vigor of every commercial cultivar. Unfortunately for us, seedling vigor and seed quality have almost nothing to do with the failed stands from our last planting window- even marble-sized seed of the highest quality will drown when forced to suffer through prolonged saturated conditions. That said, a few callers this week pointed to one cultural practice as the saving grace on their acres, with others mentioning their desire to incorporate the practice on some of their acres in the future. In this blog, I’ll describe the underlying reasons for why that practice may only fit a portion of our acres- but for the acres on which it fits, it rarely results in the need for a replant. I’ll also talk briefly about the lessons those who cannot use the practice might apply to their acres.
The slider above includes two pictures of cotton planted by the same planter, on the same day (May 22, 2025), within the same field (Milan, TN)- the two areas are approximately 200 ft apart. Click and hold your pointer over the dividing line and slide it back and forth to see the striking differences associated with bedded versus flat ground this year. Continue reading
Most of the conversations I’ve had in the past few days have centered around what to do with thin stands, when to stop planting, and how to manage late planted cotton. In this post, I’m going to try to briefly tackle these three topics. Be prepared, my opinion on a few of these items may run counter to the opinions of others. Spoilers- if in doubt, keep it; yield potentials begin to decline rapidly as we move into June; and June cotton should be planted thinner than April or May cotton. Continue reading
What began in March as a quick start to the planting season has with the many frequent rain events turned into a very slow struggle. The question of the hour is on how to burndown fields that are grown up messes before planting soybeans (Picture 1 and 2). There are strategies that can tackle fields that are heavily infested with 3’ tall goosegrass, Palmer amaranth, horseweed and volunteer corn. They typically require some kind of sequential application to be successful.
Paraquat, the usual “go to” for late spring burndown, will not control grasses with size, horseweed or even pigweed that has gotten so far out of hand. As such, the best approach is aggressive tillage. That unfortunately is not an option on our highly erodible fields.
In those cases, a tankmix of a high rate of Liberty plus clethodim is the best approach to try to control the grass weeds, horseweed and set the pigweed back. Then, if possible, a couple days later apply paraquat. This approach would have the best chance of success with herbicides.
In fields where the soybeans may emerge before a follow-up paraquat application could take place then Liberty tankmixed with Enlist should take out any escaped broadleaves. If grass seems to be recovering then apply Liberty plus clethodim.
The UT Cotton Scout School is scheduled for Wednesday, May 21st, 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. Pesticide points in categories 1, 4, 10 and 12 will be offered and a BBQ lunch will be provided. 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.