We recently rated our Italian ryegrass screen in the greenhouse for glyphosate and clethodim resistance. The first two runs were conducted on 13 populations across 11 counties in West Tennessee. Continue reading
Our 2025 TN Corn Official Variety Trial (OVT) results are now available. These data are from our small plot trials performed at eight sites located within six of our UT AgResearch and Education Centers across the state (Jackson, Milan, Spring Hill, Springfield, Knoxville, and Greeneville).
This year, we had 40 hybrids, representing 11 brands/companies, included in the OVT. Our top performers (those not statistically different from the highest yielding hybrid within each test) are listed in the 2025 OVT Corn “A Group” Table below. The full results, including information on yield, moisture, test weight, plant and ear height, lodging, protein, oil, and starch for each hybrid within and across locations is available as an excel file download – Corn Grain Tables 2025 PRELIM – OVT ONLY.
County trial data is not included in this PRELIM report as that data is still coming in. It will be included in the FINAL report. Continue reading
We are close to the end but a few still have acres left to defoliate. Others are considering applying another application to remove small amounts of leaf. Generally, most all of the harvestable bolls are open. Yields are off, in many areas considerably more than expected. At this point, we need to consider what we have in the field and what we might gain from another defoliation application. Most acres loosely break out to either 1,000+ lb per acre or far less than 1,000 lb per acre. The approach on these fields should generally be different. In this blog, I make a few comments and give a couple of examples of the best approach to wrap up 2025.
Practically every fall some growers are dismayed at the vine infestations present at corn harvest. Often, these weed infestations emerged after the 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
My understanding is that Tennessee may have as many as 100,000 acres of canola planted this fall. Weed management in canola can be difficult, but is fairly straight forward for 2 reasons. Continue reading
The two best fall-applied options for ryegrass and poa control in wheat are Anthem Flex and Zidua. Pyroxasulfone is providing the grass control in both these herbicides.
Anthem Flex may be applied as a true PRE right behind the drill. Oftentimes this use pattern is safe for wheat. However, some stand reduction may occur if wheat is planted and Anthem Flex is applied PRE to dry soil and a rain event happens shortly after sowing. As such, if rain is in the forecast wait and apply it later as a delayed PRE or early POST.
Zidua is typically applied delayed PRE to early POST. The earlier it can be applied the more effective it can be as it has no impact on emerged ryegrass. The earliest it can be applied as defined by the label is as a delayed PRE. The Zidua label defines delayed PRE as when 80% of germinated wheat seeds have a shoot at least ½” long until wheat spiking.
In past years, many have tankmixed metribuzin with Zidua or Anthem Flex. Metrubuzin can cause some significant wheat injury. Predicting wheat injury with metribuzin can be very challenging as so many factors are involved. Weather, wheat maturity, soil type, metribuzin rate and variety sensitivity all play a role on if injury will occur or not. As such I would recommend to NOT tankmix in metribuzin. The main weed target for metribuzin is poa. The pyroxasulfone should keep poa from emerging and therefore metribuzin does not provide much benefit. That weighed against the chance of considerable crop injury when applied to wheat just getting established really points to keeping
Defoliating the 2025 crop just became more difficult. While you wait for your fields to dry, I’ve got a document that I believe may come in handy over the next few weeks. Each year, the MidSouth Cotton Specialists’ Working Group generate a defoliation guide. This document is a collaborative effort between Dr. Bradley Wilson (Missouri), Mr. Tyler Sandlin and Dr. Joshua Lee (Alabama), Dr. Brian Pieralisi (Mississippi), Dr. Shelly Kerns (Louisiana), and Dr. Zachary Treadway (Arkansas).
The 2025 document is just short of a complete rewrite and is worth your time to peruse. I’m particularly proud of the breakdown of the factors which influence plant response to product and rate along with the decision matrix and the streamlined program product selection guide. Special thanks to each of the authors for their time on this revision!
I’ve had a flurry of calls wondering what should change as we move into slightly cooler and *possibly* wetter conditions. I’ve also had several questions about why we’ve seen different responses to our concoctions this year than in years past. In this short blog, I list a few points to keep in mind. Continue reading