Category Archives: Cotton

02 Jun 2022

Ascochyta, herbicide burn, poor stand. . . do I replant it?

02 Jun 2022
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Large rainfall events and cool weather in late May strained Tennessee’s cotton crop.  In some areas, individuals are considering replanting cotton that failed to emerge or cotton that appears to be just sitting.  In other areas, reports of damaged or desiccated cotyledons have been reported and healthy, large cotyledons are hard to find most anywhere. In this blog, I cover a few rules of thumb to consider when determining whether or not to keep the stand and give a few words of advice to those that are considering May 30-something cotton. Continue reading →

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30 May 2022

Best Management Practices for Liberty Applications

30 May 2022
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The beginning of June is always a busy planting and spray window.  It will be more so this spring with most of last week a wash to get much field work done. Of course, there will be a good deal of glyphosate and dicamba sprayed this week and likely some Liberty as well. With Liberty in such short supply every quart must count.  This is just a quick reminder that the time of day that Liberty is applied has a large determination on the success or failure of that application.

From 2012 to 2017 we conducted a good many studies examining Liberty performance on Palmer amaranth as affected by the time of day the application was conducted.  All the studies pointed to the same conclusion, that Liberty applied in the middle of the day provided better and more consistent control of Palmer amaranth than either early morning or evening applications (studies conducted in warm weather). As an example, one study (Figure 1.) from 2015 showed good control of 4” tall Palmer amaranth if the Liberty application was applied at noon compared to applications made at dawn or sunset.

Figure 1. Palmer amaranth control from Liberty herbicide as effected by application timing.

In general, the best Liberty performance can be achieved when applications are made from 8:00AM to 6:00PM.

Other environmental factors also greatly effect Liberty’s weed control performance.  It controls weeds best if applied on days where the high temperatures for the day are in the 80s or 90s.  Also, it works best at higher humidity’s as well.  In other words, a typical June or July day.

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29 May 2022

2022 Certified Crop Adviser of the Year

29 May 2022
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 The nomination for the CCA of the Year is still open. This is a great opportunity to honor a CCA personnel in TN for their exceptional customer service, innovations, substantial contribution to the exchange of ideals and the transfer of agronomic knowledge within the agricultural industry.

The Tennessee Farm Bureau along with the Tennessee Certified Crop Adviser Board of Directors sponsor an Award to a deserving Tennessee Certified Crop Adviser who has exemplified the merits of service and dedication to their customers.

The winner will receive a plaque and a $500 cash prize.

To nominate someone, please write a short bio of this person’s accomplishments and submit to Jaymie Seay, Executive Board Administrator for the Tennessee CCA Board of Directors. Her email is Jaymie.seay@protritionfeed.com   You do not have to be a CCA to nominate someone. Please submit by August 30, 2022.

A committee from the Tennessee CCA Board will select the winner.

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25 May 2022

Rice Stink Bugs in Wheat

25 May 2022
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I’ve received several phone calls over the past few days with concerns about rice stink bug in wheat. Rice stink bugs have to be present in extremely high numbers to cause  economic damage to wheat. There is no sweep net threshold for stink bugs in wheat and once the crop hits the hard dough stage injury potential is significantly reduced. Keep in mind that stink bugs are transient in wheat and can often be found in high numbers one week and disappear the next.  Stink bugs will often congregate on the edges of field crops and wheat is no different. High numbers of stink bugs will often be found on borders and diminish the further you move into a field. Since we normally do not treat for stink bugs in wheat, large numbers can move into seedling corn in adjacent fields. Corn smaller than 24 inches is at risk for stink bug injury and seedling corn with 10% or more infested plants should be treated.  Rice stink bugs are not a cause for concern in corn, brown stink bugs are the primary species that injury seedling stage corn.

Brown Stink Bug Wheat adult - UT Crops Pest Guides Rice Stink Bug 1 - UT Crops Pest Guides

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25 May 2022

UT Cotton Scout School

25 May 2022
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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.

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22 May 2022

Seedling Cotton Burn from Early Post Applications

22 May 2022
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Picture 1. Cotton growing through Dual Magnum + Roundup PowerMax Burn

Weather permitting, this week will be the start of the early POST applications in cotton. These applications are often critical to not only curtail weed competition but to combat thrips injury as well.  The biggest concern with these applications is injury to the young cotton plants.  Traditionally, the main pesticides applied are a mixture of glyphosate plus either Dual, Outlook or Warrant plus Intrepid Edge or acephate. Those herbicides which contain a good surfactant in glyphosate with the oil formulations of the chloracetamide herbicides will always burn young cotton leaves. The typical cotton injury from those mixtures will range from 10 to 20% (Picture 1). Continue reading →

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19 May 2022

Making the decision to replant and assessing injury from hail

19 May 2022
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Strong thunderstorms brought heavy rainfall and isolated hail to some areas of the MidSouth last weekend (5/13-5/15).  Reports of hail damage have not been widespread and many welcomed a rather helpful rainfall event.  Still, those who caught hail are assessing their damaged stand and those who caught the heaviest rainfalls are trying to determine if a replant is warranted.  In this blog, I summarize some recent research conducted by the MidSouth Cotton Specialists’ Working Group on hail damage and planting date/populations and discuss the applicability of those findings to our current situation. Continue reading →

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17 May 2022

Thrips Control in Cotton

17 May 2022
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I’ve received several phone calls over the past few days about thrips in seedling cotton. Thrips pressure is variable by location with some areas reporting treatable numbers and others finding a few adults scattered around.  Application timing is critical for the best control.  Our research has shown that applications made early, before the second true leaf, provides the most benefit.

Options for foliar oversprays are limited to organophosphates  (Acephate, Bidrin, Dimethoate) and Intrepid Edge. OP resistance is present in West TN and while Acephate may provide some relief a more consistent option is 3.0 oz of Intrepid Edge. Also, increasing the rates of OPs may help some but overcoming resistance with higher rates often doesn’t provide consistent control and can be an expensive mistake.

The take home message, use acephate or other OPs with caution especially if you received questionable control last year and higher rates often aren’t the answer. Intrepid Edge, although the most expensive, is most consistent option that won’t flare spider mites or aphids. Surfactants aren’t required for Intrepid Edge but are highly recommended. Application with a herbicide such as Roundup or Liberty will work.

Side note: I’ve got word that Bidrin is in short supply so if you don’t have what you need for thrips I would think about making other arrangements.

 

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