My understanding is that some cotton planted this year will contain the ThryvOn trait. According to UT entomologist Sebe Brown these varieties will likely not require any POST foliar insecticide application for thrips. This is great as far as management for that pest but from a weed management perspective this could be a problem. Continue reading
Corn, cotton, soybeans, and wheat were up for the week.
On Wednesday the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 0.25%. The change was the 10th
increase in interest rates in 14 months. The Federal Reserve has been raising interest rates to reduce the annual inflation rate to closer to its target of around 2%. Annualized monthly inflation peaked at 9.06% in June 2022 and has since declined to the most recent estimate of 4.98% on March 31, 2023. The bank prime lending rate is now at 8.25%, up 5% compared to March 15, 2022. The increase in interest rates has numerous implications for agricultural producers – increased interest expense on operating capital, reduced access to credit, and higher capital recovery rates on medium-to-long term capital investments (machinery, livestock, land etc.). Continue reading at Tennessee Market Highlights.
The UT Cotton Scout School is scheduled for the last Friday of the month, May 26th, at the West Tennessee Research and Education Center (605 Airways Blvd, Jackson). There is no fee, and preregistration is not required. Registration begins at 8:00 AM with the program starting at 8:30. Content will include classroom and hands-on training with an optional go-to-the-field session after lunch. Topics covered will include cotton development and identification and symptoms of insect pests, plant diseases, and weeds.
Corn, soybeans, and wheat were down; cotton was up last week.
The December corn futures contract compared to the previous 10 years, from the start of January to the end of April, experienced its largest decline in 2023. The December 2023 contract decreased 79 cents – opening the year at $6.06 ¾ and closing April at $5.27 ¾. The next largest decline was 67 ¼ cents in 2020 when prices experienced rapid declines, due to the on set of the COVID-19 pandemic. 2022 had the largest gain in the previous 10 years with prices rising a remarkable $2.03 ¾ ($5.47 ½ to $7.51 ¼), due primarily to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Volatility has been a feature in corn markets over the past three growing seasons and is likely to continue in 2023. There remains a large amount of uncertainty for the 2023 crop, however with greater acreage in Brazil and the U.S. expected the bias in corn markets is for further price weakness, in the absence of a weather-related production disruption.
Soybean replanting decisions are almost always a tough call and a subjective decision. In 2023, favorable planting conditions in late March and early April have resulted in quite a few acres being planted. As we head into the month of May, let’s take a look at some objective factors that can help inform replant decisions. Continue reading
This time of year as we move to burndown behind the planter we typically get some reports of mixing issues when either glyphosate or Gramoxone is added to the tank with residual herbicides like atrazine, metribuzin, Cotoran, Caparol, fomesafen or a pyroxasulfone containing product. What happens is the white herbicides will often clabber up and stop up screens and strainers in the sprayer. Continue reading
Practically every September some growers are dismayed at the vine infestations present at corn harvest. Often, these weed infestations emerged after PRE applied or early POST applied herbicides had played out. They grew very little until August and as the corn dried down and light became more available those established weeds started rapidly growing. Continue reading
Yet another cold snap moved through the area this past weekend and several had questions concerning the possibility of this event to damage our wheat crop. I’ve pasted a copy of the NOAA observed low temperatures throughout most of Tennessee’s wheat producing areas, and as you can see from the image temperatures fell very close to dangerous levels. Additionally, frost was reported in several areas. Continue reading