Tarnished plant bugs in cotton: This is number one with many reports of treatment, but not blowout populations, primarily in cotton once in gets 8-10 total nodes. I’ve discussed thresholds and treatment options in a couple of recent articles (linked below).
Cotton Moves Forward (June 26, 2013)
Preparing for Plant Bugs (June 20, 2013)
We have gotten a number of calls on how effective Liberty will control weeds during this unseasonably cold first week of July. Continue reading
Click on this link for Dr. Aaron Smith’s comments on the June 28 USDA Grain Stocks and Acreage Reports – http://economics.ag.utk.edu/news13.html. Continue reading
As reported by NASS on July 1, 2013
2013 CROPS IN GOOD SHAPE COMING INTO JULY
This past week was a peculiar one in regards to weather conditions, marked by spotted showers across the state. On average, farmers had five-and-a-half days suitable for field activity. Many farmers were active harvesting the wheat crop, with harvest jumping 39 percent from the previous week. Heavy wheat stands led to thick stubble which had to be burned in order for soybeans to be planted. Continue reading
Bollworm (a.k.a. corn earworm) moth traps are not real high but certainly higher than last year, and we have been catching moths for several weeks. I suspect we will not have much difficulty Continue reading
This large wheat crop is taking a lot of time and labor this summer. This is both good and bad. The good news is the wheat is yielding very well which comes at a good time to get some bills paid. The bad news is that it is very slow going as much of it is laying down and the great yields take quite a bit of labor to get it to the granary. All this time and labor devoted to the wheat harvest has delayed herbicide applications in cotton and early planted soybeans. Continue reading
As reported by NASS on June 24, 2013
WHEAT HARVEST FINALLY BEGAN
Farmers took advantage of good weather conditions across the state last week and finally began to harvest the wheat crop. Even with 11 percent of the wheat crop being harvested this past week, harvest is still about two weeks behind the five year average. The wheat conditions have been good throughout the spring, but lodging has caused some yield issues. Continue reading
There have now been a couple of reports of kudzu bugs occurring on soybean in the southeastern corner of the state (Marion and Blount Counties). Unfortunately, this will become a more common occurrence as Continue reading