Dear Tennessee Producer:

We invite you to participate in a study conducted by University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture researchers along with the Tennessee Department of Agriculture. The purpose of this survey is to demonstrate the progress Tennessee farmers are making towards environmental stewardship.

The survey should take about 10 minutes to complete. Your participation is voluntary. NO personal information or data is collected.

Click the link below to begin the survey:

https://utk.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_dhwdnXtVzUMeEg6

Please contact us if you have any other questions about the survey. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to help us!

Thank you for your time,

Dr. Chris Boyer (cboyer3@utk.edu)

Dr. Aaron Smith (aaron.smith@utk.edu)

Dr. Forbes Walker (frwalker@utk.edu)

UT Institute of Agriculture, The University of Tennessee Knoxville

John McClurkan (john.mcclurkan@TN.gov)

Tennessee Department of Agriculture

The 2023 Tennessee Cotton Variety Trial Results (PB 1742) are now available online.  Included within these results are thirteen large strip trials (CSTs) testing 13 XtendFlex commercial varieties, four large strip trials (CSTs) testing 6 Enlist commercial varieties, and eight small plot trials (OVTs) testing 44 experimental and commercial varieties.

Special thanks to all of the agents and producers who helped generate this data.  Additionally, thanks to the USDA Classing Office in Memphis for assisting with this effort.  If you have any questions on location response or variety placement, please do not hesitate to reach out directly to your county agent.

The final version of the TN Corn Grain Hybrid Tests in TN publication is available as a pdf and excel files on search.utcrops.com. This report includes both the OVT and CST data.

Prelim results from the 2023 TN soybean OVT are now available as pdf (2023 Soybean Tables, 2023 Soybean Tables Appendix) and excel files (2023 Soybean Tables, 2023 Soybean Tables Appendix). Seventy-one varieties were evaluated in small plot replicated trials (REC) at 8 sites. In addition to yield, moisture, lodging, maturity, oil, and protein, data were collected on diseases, including frogeye and SDS, at locations where these diseases were present. The final CST data and disease trials are not in the prelim report but will be included in the final version to be posted here and on search.utcrops.com. Varieties that were in the A group in the OVT are listed below.

In response to losing lawsuits on lack of action on the endangered species, the EPA proposed a draft strategy aimed at guarding federally endangered species against potential negative impacts of herbicide applications. They describe the strategy as a mix of population-level protections for over 900 listed species and designated critical habitats with a range of mitigation measures. What the EPA is proposing to do will eventually impact every pesticide application in Tennessee.

This is a very complicated topic.  I found the two WarAgainstWeeds podcasts helpful in trying to understand the “why, where and how” of EPAs strategy.

If you would like to comment to EPA on this plan (I would urge you to comment!), here is a link: Write a Comment