A rough start for many of TN’s cotton acres has turned into a decent summer for the majority of our acreage. This is very evident when looking at accumulated heat units noted at the West Tennessee Research and Education Center in Jackson, TN. As you can see in the below graph, we are quite a bit ahead of the last two years on accumulated heat units. Warm temperatures in mid/late June and timely rains have Continue reading
The remaining Soybean Scout School is scheduled for 9:30 AM in Robertson County (see below). Scout Schools are 2-2.5 hour, field-side programs about the nuts and bolts of soybean growth and pest management. They are sponsored in part by the Tennessee Soybean Promotion Board and the USB. Scouting notebooks and sweep nets will be provided to participants while supplies last. Continue reading
Tennessee cotton is finally ‘growing off’. Still, here on the 3rd day of July, it appears few farms will reach the coveted ‘bloom by the 4th’. Although the environment has played a dominate role in maturity up to this point, management decisions emphasizing earliness have been particularly useful in 2015. This marks the third consecutive year in which managing for earliness has a marked effect on crop maturity by early July. 
On the heels of last year’s delayed crop, Dr. Owen Gwathmey and I began discussing potential benefits of managing a cotton crop for earliness and the management practices which encourage timely maturity and harvest with colleagues both within and beyond the University of Tennessee. We have summarized these thoughts in the attached Guide to Earliness Management in Short-season Cotton Production (PB1830). Continue reading
The annual UT Cotton Scout School will be held on Friday, May 29th in Room A at the West Tennessee Research and Education Center (605 Airways Blvd, Jackson). Registration will begin at 8:00 AM with the official program starting at 8:30. It will end with a lunch, but those interested can attend a short ‘go to the field’ session after lunch. We hope to increase the hands-on portion of the program this year. Topics will include crop development, insect and weed identification, scouting techniques, and more. No registration fee or preregistration is required.
Mark your calendars for the TAPA Winter Agronomic Workshop (Wednesday, February 11) and Cotton Focus (Thursday, February 12). Both meetings will be held at the Doubletree Hotel in Jackson, Tennessee. Continue reading
One of our County Agents, Walter Battle, had the good idea of asking me to post this information.
Producers as the 2014 harvest continues, be mindful that on October 21st, Tennessee Department of Agriculture Private Applicator Certifications will expire. With that in mind, many University of Tennessee Extension offices are providing re-certification trainings. Call or check with your Continue reading
I have had a good number of calls, emails and texts with photos of soybean plants with classic potassium deficiency symptoms showing in the upper leaves. Some fields may also have some SDS as well which is a separate issue. After a little investigating, it appears that the plants are experiencing a K deficiency in th Continue reading
