If historical weather trends are true and our forecast holds, we are staring at one of the last opportunities to use moderate to warm temperatures to coax leaves off and open bolls. The long term forecast suggests low temperatures next week will consistently fall below 60F with a few nights forecast to touch the low 50s. Furthermore, rain is in the forecast over the weekend/through the beginning of next week.
With the cool and drizzly weather, not too many people have bee looking at late maturing soybean. But it appears there are not any serious, widespread insect problems. There have been some reports of stink bug and soybean looper infestations, albeit mostly at sub-threshold levels. Having said that, the exception proves the rule. It remains very important to Continue reading
The Mid-South’s cotton crop is rapidly maturing and many of our acres will receive a harvest aid application soon after Hurricane Irma moves through the area. There are many factors to consider in determining timing, products and rates. In an effort to outline these decisions and provide harvest aid recommendations for the Mid-South, the 2017 Mid-South Cotton Defoliation Guide has just been updated by the MidSouth Cotton Specialists’ Working Group and is now available online. To access the guide, click the image above or the included link. Please keep in mind that this was compiled as a regional guide and should be used in conjunction with your previous experiences.
Many of our early soybean fields are turning yellow and came through the season not needing an insecticide application. I’ve had a number of calls about threshold levels of kudzu bugs in some of these fields. The threshold is 1 nymph/sweep, and some fields are running 2-3 times this level. Although this exceeds threshold, I’m Continue reading
COTTON: Most cotton has accumulated enough heat units that the need for scouting and further insecticide applications has passed. Based on last effective bloom date for West Tennessee and the calendar, any insecticide applications in late maturing cotton should wrapped up within the next 4-5 days.
A short and sweet synopsis of the 2017 season is Continue reading
Heat unit accumulation has been the big question over the past week. Mild temperatures settled over Tennessee during early August and there is some concern that the crop may not be maturing as quickly as noted in years past. While I agree the weather has been quite comfortable, we are currently very close to the 30 year average heat unit accumulation trend noted from 1980-2010.
Although many of our early maturing fields are out of the woods, I continue to get calls about bollworms (corn earworm) in later maturing cotton and soybean. As a reminder, there are a couple of factors in play that need to be considered. Continue reading
People are often resistant to making applications to control spider mites, particularly later in the season. I understand the reluctance to treat. We’ve all had experiences where populations crash on their own or stay limited to small areas of a field, but the reverse is also true. The threshold of 30-50% of plants showing injury with mites present is the best we’ve been able to do, but we all know that rainfall or irrigation reduces the impactsof spider mites. The truth is that Continue reading