Category Archives: 2020
Corn Diseases in South and Central Texas, So Far
This season has been unusual for corn diseases. Early in the year, starting in south Texas and progressing north, the fungal disease, northern corn leaf blight (Figure 1), has been very prevalent. Usually, a few lesions of the disease are seen on the lowest leaves and the disease never progresses. Disease development is driven by frequent rain and temperatures lower than 80°F. In a typical Texas growing season, infrequent rain, but moreover increasing temperatures will hinder the fungus. Weather conditions early in the season supported disease development. There… Read More →
Summer Annual Forages for Texas—Sorghum/Sudan & Hybrid Pearl Millet
Dr. Calvin Trostle, Extension Agronomy, TAMU Soil & Crop Sciences, Lubbock, TX (806) 723-8432, ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu February 10, 2020 I have written previously for Texas Row Crops Newsletter about hybrid pearl millet (HPM) in May 2015 and June 2017. The focus of then was the tolerance if not near absence of sugarcane aphid (SCA) activity in HPM. We continue to regard HPM as a poor host for SCA. Additional evidence in several Texas locations since 2017 reaffirms this. For Texas forage growers, HPM remains a potential alternative… Read More →
Update on Industrial Hemp for Texas—April/Early May 2020
Dr. Calvin Trostle, Extension Agronomy & State Extension Hemp Specialist TAMU Soil & Crop Sciences, Lubbock, TX; (806) 723-8432, ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu April 30, 2020 Texas Department of Agriculture Hemp Licensing Texas Department of Agriculture opened their online portal for hemp license applications on March 16. Applications number about 600. Many applicants have received their licenses. Several are awaiting their lot permits. One grower last week noted that TDA suggested they list the full acreage of their farm (101 acres in this case) as the Facility rather than… Read More →
AgriLife Extension Hires New Small Grains Specialist
Kay Ledbetter Fernando Guillen, Ph.D., is the new Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service statewide small grains and oilseed crops specialist. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Beth Ann Luedeker.) The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service has hired Fernando Guillen, Ph.D., as the new statewide small grains and oilseed crops specialist in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences at Texas A&M University. He officially started March 1. “Dr. Guillen brings a wealth of agronomic experience to AgriLife Extension’s small grains program. We are excited to have him… Read More →
Unique COVID-19 Social-Distancing Message for Texas Farmers
AgriLife agronomist alerting Texas farmers about their importance to remain healthy Adapted from AgriLife Today, April 4, 2020 The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service has specialists and agents statewide helping to keep Texans educated, informed and safe amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Calvin Trostle, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension agronomist in Lubbock, is a regular guest on many agriculture radio programs in the Texas High Plains and beyond. His message, however, is reaching farther than ever before as stations share his message over two dozen syndicated affiliates. Given his… Read More →
Late-season Weed Control in Wheat
Dr. Calvin Trostle, Extension Agronomy, TAMU Soil & Crop Sciences, Lubbock, TX (806) 723-8432, ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu Wheat farmers in the Rolling Plains, Concho Valley, and especially the High Plains, may have enough time to implement some late-season weed control in problem fields. For some farmers, earlier weed control with 2,4-D products may have given incomplete control for mustards, London rocket, kochia, etc. As many farmers across Texas know there is always some risk using growth-regulator type herbicides in wheat due to injury potential on grain yield. These herbicides include… Read More →
“June (late) planting and poor seed quality led to a thin stand for CBD hemp in this New Mexico field in 2019
Update on Industrial Hemp for Texas—March 2020 Dr. Calvin Trostle, Extension Agronomy, TAMU Soil & Crop Sciences, Lubbock, TX (806) 723-8432, ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu March 4, 2020 USDA & Texas Department of Agriculture Rules Updates Texas Department of Agriculture legal counsel Tim Kleinschmidt was a February 19 guest during a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension webinar. He noted final Texas hemp rules will be published in the Texas Register on March 6. TDA will seek to open the online portal for hemp license applications the second full week of March (March… Read More →
Slight chance of vernalization issues in late-planted wheat: West Central Texas
Reagan Noland – Assistant Professor & Extension Agronomist, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, San Angelo, TX Substantial wheat acreage in West Central Texas was planted later than normal, largely due to very dry fall conditions. Much of the region received less than 1 inch of rain through September and October combined, compared to the average >5 inches (Figure 1). Depending on the timing of planting relative to isolated rain events in November and December, some wheat did not emerge until late December or possibly early January. Average temperatures… Read More →
Update on Industrial Hemp for Texas—February 2020
Dr. Calvin Trostle, Extension Agronomy, TAMU Soil & Crop Sciences, Lubbock, TX (806) 723-8432, ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu February 10, 2020 USDA & Texas Department of Agriculture Rules Updates In late January USDA approved the Texas Department of Agriculture state hemp plan. This is an important step in the move toward legal hemp in Texas in 2020. What is somewhat surprising is TDA’s public comment period is still open another two weeks to Feb. 10. Does this mean that TDA might make some changes in their approved rules? Possibly. Will… Read More →