We are at the stage of development when questions are coming in about the value of spraying insecticides on field corn at early tassel. This is usually a piggyback application where a pyrethroid insecticide is added to the fungicide. The potential value of this Continue reading
Frank Herry with the Tennessee Department of Agriculture collected kudzu bugs from kudzu in Polk County on 5/30/12 and Hamilton and Bradley Counties on 5/31/12. It was only a matter of time before this invasive insect found its way into our state. Since kudzu bugs were first found in Georgia in 2009, it has spread rapidly to cover most of Georgia and South Carolina. More recently, it has spread into much of North Carolina and several counties in Florida, Alabama, Virginia and now Tennessee. Kudzu bugs can occur in soybean at very high numbers, sometimes several hundred or even thousands per 25 sweeps. This insect has caused documented yield losses in soybean exceeding 30% if Continue reading
As reported by NASS on June 4, 2012
EXCELLENT WHEAT HARVEST PROGRESS
Wheat harvest was the main story last week as farmers made excellent progress with over fifty percent harvested. Cotton planting was almost wrapped-up by week’s end. Good progress was also made planting soybeans and transplanting tobacco. Late week rains helped replenish soil moisture levels and were especially beneficial to corn. Cotton, soybeans and tobacco were progressing well ahead of the norm and rated in mostly good condition. The majority of pastures were reported in mostly fair-to-good condition. Other field activities included pesticide and herbicide applications. Continue reading
Transform, a new insecticide containing the active ingredient sulfoxaflor, has received an emergency use exemption for SOME counties in West Tennessee for the control of tarnished plant bug in cotton. This product Continue reading
There have been a few reports of spider mites and a little bit of spraying in cotton. This does not come as a big surprise as we have been hot, dry and spraying aggressively for thrips. The spider mite treatment threshold in cotton is when 30-50% of plants are affected and Continue reading
Corn, cotton, soybean, and wheat prices are all down for the week. The June U.S. Dollar Index before the close was at 82.98, up 0.46 for the week and around a two year high. Strength in the Dollar or more appropriately the weakness of the Euro is tied directly to Europe’s financial instability. Weaker commodity prices have been a direct result. The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded before the close at 12,129, down 322 points since last Friday. Crude Oil before the close traded at 83.36 a barrel, down 8.17 a barrel for the week. Continue reading
There has been a number of reports of poor Palmer amaranth control with post applications of PPO herbicides (Flexstar, Cobra, etc). This is not new to this year. However what is being reported more as a problem this year than last is even 1 to 2” Palmer is often recovering from these post PPO applications. Continue reading
There have been several reports about treatment level, and in some cases very high, infestations of southwestern corn borer in non-Bt corn. I’ve written a few recent articles about dealing with this pest (see links below). There are a few other Continue reading