Some of the earlier planted cotton fields will soon be entering the true “laying it by” application timing. Given that some are clearly not successful spraying Palmer amaranth, goosegrass or junglerice with glyphosate + dicamba (Picture 1 and 2), going back to an “old school” layby is a good plan. Continue reading
We are quickly approaching the period of time in which we typically apply PGRs. Unfortunately, May was not kind and June has been dry. Many are struggling with figuring out when to start PGR applications and how aggressive we should be with that first application. In this blog, I link to our most recent Cotton Specialists’ Corner podcast on this very issue. This episode highlights several things to keep in mind before we run a stiff rate of PGR to an already stressed plant and potentially hurt yields.
Getting reports from several consultants frustrated with the lack of Palmer amaranth control after applications of either Dicamba or Enlist One in cotton and soybean. Indeed, in our second year of field research at locations where dicamba or 2,4-D provided sketchy pigweed control in 2021 we are seeing similar if not worse Palmer amaranth control in 2022 (Picture 1). Continue reading
There have been several reports last week of multiple glyphosate and/or clethodim applications not controlling barnyardgrass or junglerice. We really do not know the precise reasons for the lack of control in any given field but based on previous research and past experience there are a couple likely causes. Continue reading
I’ve received several phone calls over the past few days about threecornered alfafa hoppers in V-stage beans. Many of the questions are related to the recent cotton injury that was observed in West TN where cotton was planted behind a legume cover crop. Hopper injury in beans is not the same as hopper injury in cotton. Hopper injury in seedling (less than 6 nodes) cotton often results in a girdle on the main stem. Over time the girdle swells, the cotton stops growing, the leaves turn red and the cotton dies.
Hopper injury in beans results in a girdled main stem, when plants are less than 8-10 inches tall, that doesn’t result in plant death like cotton. Girdled beans are at increased risk for lodging late season when neighboring plants don’t have time to compensate. Yields of girdled plants won’t be affected unless they break over during the season. Hopper damaged beans tend to be worse in thin stands and poorly growing soybeans. Hoppers are typically easy to control with pyrethroids or acephate. Insecticide seed treatments provide some protection against hoppers during the seedling stage, although levels of protection can be highly dependent on environmental conditions. For more information on thresholds and control options please visit: https://guide.utcrops.com/soybean/soybean-insect-guide/threecornered-alfalfa-hopper/
JACKSON, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture will host the annual Weed Tour is this Wednesday, June 15 at the West Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center. The guided tour will feature 40 weed management research tests in corn, soybean and cotton as well as a demonstration of herbicide symptomology. Continue reading
Judging by our research plots as well as walking some cotton and soybean fields most Pre applied herbicides are playing out about 7 to 10 days quicker than last spring (Picture 1). The frequent rain would most likely be the reason for this. Continue reading
The call of the last week was easily “my cotton looks like #&*^!”. The main reason for cotton looking bad was the cold wet spell over Memorial Day weekend that seemed to last longer. That poor cotton growing weather then catalyzed pre-applied herbicide injury in some cases, seedling diseases in other cases and has likely made a bad thrips window even worse across most every field. Continue reading