Category Archives: Agriculture
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 →
Wheat Variety Grain Picks for Texas – 2021-2022
Dr. Fernando Guillen-Portal, Small Grains Extension Specialist, Soil & Crop Sciences Dept. College Station, (406) 579-5638, f.guillenportal@agnet.tamu.edu Dr. Calvin Trostle, Extension Agronomy, TAMU Soil & Crop Sciences, Lubbock, (806) 723-8432, ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu Russ Garetson, MS, Small Grains Extension Program Specialist, TAMU Soil & Crop Sciences, College Station, (214) 460-5510, russ.garetson@ag.tamu.edu Continuing an established tradition, Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension has identified the annual winter wheat variety “Pick’s list” for the 2021-2022 growing season for each of the wheat variety testing regions in Texas, the High Plains, Rolling… Read More →
2021 Texas High Plains Cotton Harvest-Aid Guide
Murilo Maeda, Extension Specialist – Cotton, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Wayne Keeling, Systems Agronomist, Texas A&M AgriLife Research INTRODUCTION Cotton is cultivated as an annual crop but is inherently a deciduous perennial. As such, it is a flexible crop that responds well to both environmental and management factors. Harvest-aid chemicals are generally used to facilitate mechanical harvest of a mature crop by promoting leaf abscission, boll opening, and desiccating plants for stripper harvest. Premature application of these chemicals can result in loss of lint… Read More →
TEXAS ROLLING PLAINS PICKS LIST FOR 2021-2022
Emi Kimura, Assistant Professor and Extension Agronomist Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, Vernon, TX Emi.kimura@ag.tamu.edu 2020-2021 Cropping Season in Review The wheat season started with mild soil temperature in the fall of 2020. However, dry condition persisted during planting season through March, which reduced forage production potential for dual-purpose and small grain pastures in the Rolling Plains. In addition to the lack of soil moisture, snowstorm in mid-February slowed the development of small grain, which further reduced forage production in the region. Although freeze injury was minimal… Read More →