Monthly Archives: December 2023
Soil Testing Principles- Part IV
This item is adapted from an AgriLife submission to Texas Grain Sorghum Association’s “Sorghum Insider” Calvin Trostle, Ph.D., Professor & Extension Agronomist, TAMU Dept. of Soil & Crop Sciences, Lubbock, (806) 746-6101, ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu December 2023—Part IV (Part 5 in a future Row Crops Newsletter) Eight Soil Test Pointers for Texas Grain Sorghum: Part I: What is your soil test lab’s philosophy of nutrient provision? Part II: What does your soil test lab base fertilizer recommendations on? Part III: Do you use a soil test lab that is… Read More →
We Shouldn’t Plant Our Grain Sorghum the way we Plant our Cotton
This item is adapted from an AgriLife submission to Texas Grain Sorghum Association’s “Sorghum Insider” –Don Peterson, Dawson Co., TX (~2000) Dr. Calvin Trostle, Extension Agronomy/TAMU Dept. of Soil & Crop Sciences, Lubbock, (806) 746-6101, ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu December 2023 I was a new Extension agronomist in West Texas when I met Mr. Peterson, who was in his 60s. He farmed his first grain crop in the 1950s as a teenager. What do you think Mr. Peterson meant? I posed Mr. Peterson’s question this past Wednesday in… Read More →
Iron Deficiency & Symptoms in Texas Field Crops
Distinct iron chlorosis in plant leaves makes diagnosis easier Dr. Calvin Trostle, Extension Agronomy/TAMU Dept. of Soil & Crop Sciences, Lubbock, (806) 746-6101, ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu December 2023 Culberson Co. ag. agent Zach Schaefer and I visited this sorghum/sudan field in early September (Fig. 1). From the road it was evident much of this field was heavily iron deficient. This issue is most common in Texas sorghums, both grain and forages, as all sorghums have poor iron uptake efficiency relative to other crops. Fig. 1. Yellow plants… Read More →
The “Bamboo Forest” of Texas Forage Farming
This common summer annual forage mistake has forage quality implications. Dr. Calvin Trostle, Extension Agronomy/TAMU Dept. of Soil & Crop Sciences, Lubbock, (806) 746-6101, ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu December 2023 What do you observe in this recent sorghum/sudan field from Terry County, Texas? If you showed this to a local forage grower or cattle raiser, what would you say? Fig. 1. Grazing of sorghum/sudan where cattle were turned in to graze much too late or at too-low stocking rate. Forage is headed out, cattle are eating mostly just leaves,… Read More →