Poor control of poa (annual bluegrass) and ryegrass have been the common calls of late. This is becoming more common every spring. It would appear that an increasing portion of the poa and ryegrass populations in Tennessee has evolved some level (2 to 4x) of glyphosate resistance.
There are some basic management practices that can affect, sometimes worsen, and other times be used to reduce risks of insect pest injury. Below, I’ve included some observations and suggestions for your consideration.
As a general rule of thumb (but not universally true), no-till production increases the risk of some problems including pests like cutworm, threecornered alfalfa hopper, slugs, and several below ground pests (e.g., wireworms and white grubs). Of course, tillage is not an option in most areas of Tennessee. Thus, most entomologists suggest Continue reading
**Posted on behalf of Lindsay Stephenson, Haywood County Extension Agent**
As the warmer spring days approach, and hopefully some drier days ahead, planning your next steps on your wheat crop is probably on your to-do list. I spent some time earlier this week reaching out to Extension Agents and Specialists to get their opinions on some commonly asked questions. Below are answers to those questions to help you in your decisions about your wheat.
*Posted on behalf of Dr. Aaron Smith. A pdf of this article can be accessed by clicking the title below*
Correlation between Stock Markets and Cotton Futures
By Dr. Aaron Smith, Associate Professor and Charles Martinez, Assistant Professor
Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Tennessee
Since mid-February, cotton and stock markets have plummeted due to the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The COVID-19 pandemic has reverberated through all sectors of the US and global economies. Probably the most effected of the agricultural commodities is cotton. Cotton is tied closely to global economic activity as, in general, clothing and other apparel purchases are not a necessity and can be delayed, unlike food. For this reason, there is a close correlation between stock markets, such as the S&P 500, and cotton futures (Figure 1). Continue reading
In 2019 we ran calls on about 40 fields where producers were disappointed with their Palmer amaranth control from applications of Engenia or XtendiMax. We collected Palmer amaranth seed last fall from 22 of these fields where it looked like the Palmer had survived timely application(s) of dicamba. Subsequently, we were able to get a critical mass of seed to germinate from 12 of these collections in order to evaluate plants for possible dicamba tolerance in three separate greenhouse screens conducted throughout the winter months. Continue reading
Rain, rain, rain! We are behind the burndown pace of most Tennessee springs where at least some would have burndown applications applied by this time. This has resulted in a flurry of calls on options. Continue reading
Clearly, after all the struggles in 2019 controlling grass weeds, many are looking to change their weed management program. The most frequent question recently has been on the best pre emergent (PRE) options to more account for barnyardgrass, jungle rice and goosegrass. Continue reading
For the last two decades dicamba has been used extensively as a pre plant burndown on almost all Tennessee cotton and soybean acres. It was often used at 8 to 12 oz/A of a Clarity-type product 14 days before planting. I know it has become tradition to use it in this fashion, but I believe this should be changed for three reasons. Continue reading