Author Archives: ahairston1

Texas A&M AgriLife “Texas Row Crops Newsletter”—Industrial Hemp

  Dr. Calvin Trostle, Professor & Extension Agronomist/AgriLife State Hemp Specialist, TAMU Dept. of Soil & Crop Sciences, Lubbock, (806) 746-6101, ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu         Our next statewide AgriLife Zoom update is January 4, 2022, 5:15-6:30 PM CST.  Please register in advance for this meeting: https://agrilife.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAqduigpz8vHt3b4ORQbGnNTBe_YsqXt42g After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.   What will be the market and interest for CBD in 2022?   Much of the CBD industry, especially for extractable CBD, has been battered by all-time… Read More →

Texas A&M AgriLife “Sorghum Tips”

    Dr. Calvin Trostle, Extension Agronomy/TAMU Dept. of Soil & Crop Sciences, Lubbock, (806) 746-6101, ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu     Finally—Commercially Available Herbicide-Tolerant Grain Sorghums   We have heard about this for years.  In 2022 there will finally be some options for Texas grain sorghum farmers to consider.  Seed for at least some limited acreage of three different herbicide-tolerant grain sorghum hybrids will be available.   These will be best for sorghum farmers that struggle with grass control in grain sorghum.  Grain sorghum itself is a grass, so otherwise… Read More →

Dry Weather & Nitrogen Prices

Dr. Calvin Trostle, Extension Agronomy, TAMU Dept. of Soil & Crop Sciences, Lubbock, (806) 746-6101, ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu;   Wheat Conditions in Texas As you too well know conditions across most of Texas have gradually turned dry and worse into extreme drought (Fig. 1). For the northwest half of Texas winter is not the time we regularly get much moisture. Historically if wheat is established it can be pretty tough and can usually hang on until spring moisture comes, hopefully in time to take advantage of the burst of forage… Read More →

New Printed Resources for Texas-Oriented Field Crop Disease Information

Tom Isakeit, Professor and extension plant pathologist, Dept. of Plant Pathology, College Station Thomas.Isakeit@ag.tamu.edu  979-862-1340   In 2021, I prepared five publications covering diseases of various crops.  They are available as PDF files at Agrilife Learn, the newest incarnation of the online Texas Agrilife Bookstore.  The specific publications and their specific links are as follows:   Alfalfa diseases in Texas and their management. PLPM-PU-091  https://agrilifelearn.tamu.edu/s/product/alfalfa-diseases-in-texas-and-their-management/01t4x000004OXbnAAG   Diseases of soybean in Texas. PLPM-PU-090 https://agrilifelearn.tamu.edu/s/product/diseases-of-soybeans-in-texas/01t4x000003xDjTAAU   Diseases of sunflower in Texas. PLPM-PU-089 https://agrilifelearn.tamu.edu/s/product/sunflower-diseases-in-texas/01t4x000002devfAAA   Hemp diseases in Texas. PLPM-PU-085 https://agrilifelearn.tamu.edu/s/product/hemp-diseases-in-texas/01t4x000002dCrt… Read More →

Prussic Acid and Nitrate in Forages, Especially Sorghums

Dr. Calvin Trostle, Extension Agronomy, TAMU Dept. of Soil & Crop Sciences, Lubbock, (806) 746-6101, ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu   A short version of this item originally appeared in the “Sorghum Insider,” an online newsletter of the Texas Grain Sorghum Association.   I have received several calls from growers in the past three weeks about prussic acid and nitrate accumulation in forages.  These inquiries are routine in the fall starting in mid-October in the Texas High Plains as the first heavy frosts and freezes occur.  Then questions progress downstate as low… Read More →

October/November AgriLife Hemp Update for Texas

Dr. Calvin Trostle, Professor & Extension Agronomist/AgriLife State Hemp Specialist, TAMU Dept. of Soil & Crop Sciences, Lubbock, (806) 746-6101, ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu   We continue the statewide Zoom updates we began in March.  The September update will be Tuesday, November 2, 5:15-6:30 PM Central Time.  We will not meet in December but resume in 2022 on January 4.   October topics will largely follow this newsletter.  And there will be plenty of time for discussion.   To join use: https://agrilife.zoom.us/j/94133207184?pwd=dDdRT0Q0ZkVRV1M3VW5vUzVLanBIQT09 This month’s meeting does not require registration.   Observations… Read More →

Next “First Tuesday” Statewide Hemp Zoom Update from Texas A&M AgriLife

Dr. Calvin Trostle, Professor & Extension Agronomist/AgriLife State Hemp Specialist, TAMU Dept. of Soil & Crop Sciences, Lubbock, (806) 746-6101, ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu   We continue the statewide Zoom updates we began in March.  The September update will be Tuesday, September 7, 5:15-6:30 PM Central Time.  We will continue throughout 2021 at the same time on the first Tuesday.   September topics will include some overviews of current AgriLife field projects (mostly fiber), observations statewide on industrial hemp fiber lines and desired delayed reproductive growth, and how hemp fiber and… Read More →

Product Changes from Dupont’s ‘Prevathon’ to new FMC ‘Vantacor’

Dr. Calvin Trostle, Professor & Extension Agronomist/AgriLife State Hemp Specialist, TAMU Dept. of Soil & Crop Sciences, Lubbock, (806) 746-6101, ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu Dupont’s popular insecticide Prevathon is now a product of FMC.  The use instructions for crops and pests are essentially the same.  The percentage of active ingredient ‘RynaXypyr’, or chlorantraniliprole, is much different.  This leads to large changes in the labeled application rates.  Prevathon was 5.0%, Vantacor is 47.85%. Prevathon became popular for several reasons.  First, there is some limited movement—translaminar flow is what Dupont called it—within plant… Read More →

Cover Crops for Weed Management and Conservation Agriculture in Texas

Jodie Reisner, Spencer Samuelson and Muthukumar Bagavathiannan   Integrated weed management (IWM) is a diverse approach to managing weeds, which combines complementary approaches for desired weed management results (Figure 1). Studying the cultural, mechanical, physical, and biological forms in combination with chemical forms at the farm level can offer producers insights as to what can work effectively on their farms. IWM entails cultural tactics such as crop rotations, adjusting seeding rates, planting cover crops between cropping seasons to suppress weed emergence, minimizing weed seed rain through harvest weed… Read More →

End of Season Heat Unit Accumulation for Northerly Texas Sorghum

Dr. Calvin Trostle, Extension Agronomy, TAMU Dept. of Soil & Crop Sciences, Lubbock, (806) 746-6101, ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu; This item originally appeared in the “Sorghum Insider,” an online newsletter of the Texas Grain Sorghum Association. A crop consultant texted August 30th about a grain sorghum field near Plainview in Hale County, Texas.   “Would you spend any money on sorghum if it is still pre-boot near Plainview, TX?  I am seeing 5 to 10 army worms per whorl.  Could be devastating but not sure if the sorghum has time to… Read More →