We have started to notice Junglerice/Barnyardgrass emergence here in West Tennessee on Tuesday (April 28th). The key way to ID junglerice at this young stage is the purple base and flat stem. As the grass matures, you will start to notice some purple striping on the leaves as well as not having a ligule.
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
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
Below is a YouTube video from Dr. Nick Seiter from the University of Illinois that does a good job of reviewing this biology and management of Dectes stem borer in soybeans. Dr. Seiter and I are on the same page, and this video compliments my recent article about Dectes stem borer.
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
In this podcast, Dr. Avat Shekoofa details her ongoing research to identify genetic mechanisms for drought tolerance in soybean lines. Listen.