The question of the week is will the Palmer amaranth die that is still green after an Engenia or Xtendimax application? The situation is that many pigweeds in some fields have not grown after an Engenia or Xtendimax application but still remain green going on 10 days or more after the application. The question is will these pigweeds start to regrow? Continue reading
WASHINGTON, May 26, 2017 — In response to a request from Clayton Parr, Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) acting State Executive Director in Arkansas, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated 23 counties in Arkansas as primary natural disaster areas due to losses and damages caused by excessive rain, flash flooding, flooding, hail, high winds and lightning that occurred from April 1, 2017, and continues. Continue reading at USDA Designates Counties in Arkansas, Missouri, and Tennessee as Disaster Areas.
CROPS, PASTURES IN MOSTLY GOOD TO EXCELLENT CONDITION
With the exception of wet Mississippi River bottoms and limited replants, producers were able to finish planting corn and turned to getting soybeans in the ground. Winter wheat development flourished under favorable conditions. Some producers were able to cut hay before rains halted field activities. There were a few instances of insect pressure on cattle. There were 4.0 days suitable for field work. Topsoil moisture was 3 percent short, 78 percent adequate and 19 percent surplus. Subsoil moisture was 1 percent short, 82 percent adequate and 17 percent surplus. Continue reading at TN_05_30_17. The U.S. Crop Progress report can be read at CropProg-05-30-2017.
The very wet May has led to rapid degradation of the PRE applied herbicides in cotton. In our tests at Jackson that were planted 21 days ago all the PRE applied herbicides have broken. Some broke very quickly after application while others held on a little better, even with all the rain. Continue reading
There have been some Gramoxone burndown applications that have left some Palmer amaranth survivors. This happens to some extent every year. The cause of the problem is almost always coverage. Continue reading
Corn and wheat were up; soybeans and cotton were down for the week.
For the past three months, harvest corn futures prices have traded between $3.78/bu and $3.95/bu, below the projected price for crop insurance of $3.96/bu established in February. Harvest soybean futures have declined substantially (currently trading at $9.30-$9.40/bu) from the projected crop insurance price of $10.19/bu. For those that have an acceptable level of crop priced (25-65% of anticipated production) a wait and see marketing approach is likely warranted. For those with no crop priced establishing a price on a quarter of estimated production may be worth considering. Continue reading at Tennessee Market Highlights.
My phone hasn’t been going crazy with critter calls, but slug injury has been the clear winner this week, both in cotton and soybean. I also want to put forth a few reminders about thrips in cotton. Continue reading