We are currently experiencing another round of fall armyworm in bermudagrass here at the station in Jackson. We wouldn’t be surprised if there were other outbreaks occurring elsewhere. Please be vigilant in scouting bermudagrass pastures and sorghum Sudan grass. These larvae can do a lot of damage in a short amount of time so please be on the lookout! Please refer to a previous blog for treatment recommendations. Continue reading
As scouting of cotton continues there are some diseases to be on the look out for… Continue reading
If I were to ignore the calendar, I’d rate Tennessee’s cotton crop as above average. Another half inch of rain would be nice, but considering, it appears things are progressing nicely. Unfortunately, we are staring at the last effective bloom date with fewer fruiting branches and subsequently fewer bolls on each plant than I’ve observed since I arrived in Tennessee. In this blog, I highlight a few decisions which we will have to make in the coming weeks and reasons why this crop may fail to fall within the same yield ranges we’ve observed in recent years. Continue reading
The West Tennessee Research and Education Center (WTREC) would like to cordially invite you to the 2021 University of Tennessee Cotton Tour. This event is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 1st at the WTREC (605 Airways Blvd., Jackson, TN 38301). Registration will begin at 8:00 a.m. with the tour departing at 8:30. The tour will end at noon with lunch. University of Tennessee Extension and Research personnel from across the state will be presenting on a wide range of topics including: variety testing, including updates on ThryvOn; fungicides and target spot; weed and resistance management; defoliation; insect control; market outlook; and drought mitigation, just to mention a few. Pesticide Re-certification and CCA points will be available.
Cajun Express will be catering the event with fried catfish and chicken. Come join us Wednesday morning to pick up some useful information and eat a great meal right before dove season opens!
July rains and a rain on the first of August supported rapid growth in many areas. Over the past few days, two of the most common questions have become, ‘How much mepiquat chloride is needed to slow growth?’ and ‘should I also include Stance in the application?’ In this article, we highlight some interesting results from a preliminary study conducted during 2020. Continue reading
We have visited fields where growers have found that Palmer amaranth that escaped an auxin herbicide (Engenia, XtendiMax, Enlist One) application also escaped follow-up glufosinate (Liberty) application (Pictures 1 and 2). Auxin herbicide-resistant Palmer amaranth was documented in Tennessee last year. As such, it was not a surprise to find dicamba or 2,4-D fail to control pigweed. Glufosinate-resistant Palmer amaranth was documented in Arkansas last year. We have not found glufosinate-resistant Palmer amaranth on the Tennessee side of the river. However, the reports from these fields has us concerned the glufosinate-resistant biotype has indeed crossed the river. Part of the reason for the concern is that we had research fairly close to these suspect fields that showed similar poor Palmer control with dicamba or 2,4-D followed by glufosinate. Continue reading
The fall armyworm outbreak of 2021 is going to be one to remember. My colleague, Dr. Gus Lorenz in Arkansas called it “epic”. We knew something was different this year when another colleague in Texas, Dr. David Kerns, gave us a warning over a month ago. So what’s different? First, the fall armyworm flight is several weeks early, second, larval infestations have been unusually high, and third, for whatever reason, control with pyrethroid insecticides has been unusually poor (ranging from sometimes acceptable to a complete failure).
We have visited fields where growers assumed their Engenia or XtendiMax + glyphosate had controlled Palmer amaranth only to find that many had escaped and are now quite large (Picture 1). The question is what are some approaches to manage these escapes? Continue reading