by Emi Kimura and Gaylon Morgan Cotton is a slow growing plant and is typically grown on wide row spacing. Because of these reasons and others, cotton requires well planned weed control program, including cultivation, pre-plant (burndown and incorporated), pre-emergence, and post-emergence (directed and over-the-top) herbicide applications. Lint yield can be lost by 13-54% when 1 to 10 Palmer amaranth plants are present at every 30 ft of row, respecitvely (Morgan et al., 2001). The length of pre-emergence herbicide activity varies by herbicide, rate, soil moisture, soil texture,… Read More →

by Jason Woodward, Extension Plant Pathologist Cotton around the state is at various growth stages ranging from cutout in the south to pinhead square in parts of the High Plains. Furthermore, a high degree of variability can be seen across an area or within a county. Unseasonably wet conditions in addition to relatively cool temperatures experienced early in the growing season are responsible for some of the variability being exhibited by the crop. While temperatures in the High Plains have increased, remnants of monsoonal moisture are evident with… Read More →

by Gaylon Morgan and Mark Kelley Much of Texas’ cotton was planted at or very near the final planting date for within each region of the state. These delayed plantings have equated to one of the latest Texas cotton crops we have seen in many years. Additionally, much of South and East Texas has been further delayed by excessive rain delaying fruit set. This article will address some of the considerations for plant size management and promoting early maturity in the 2015 growing season. The University of Georgia… Read More →

by Dr. Calvin Trostle, Extension Agronomy, Lubbock, 806-746-6101, ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu May was the wettest to third wettest month on record in many counties in West Texas. Due to earlier rains and early sorghum prices substantial grain sorghum was planted early this year to take advantage of early moisture, adequate soil temperatures for germination, and grain sorghum pricing that remains equal to corn. Then the May deluge came: We have seen about all the symptoms on grain sorghum in the field you could expect to see. Stunting. Yellow older leaves…. Read More →

by Clark Neely, State Extension Small Grains Specialist, cneely@ag.tamu.edu Texas A&M AgriLife Extension and Oklahoma State University will be hosting a Canola Conference in Vernon, TX.  On July 15th, producers and allied industry interested in canola production in Texas are encouraged to attend the first ever Texas canola conference. Canola has great potential in Texas cropping systems and this event will provide good information to both experienced and novice canola growers for the Rolling Plains. Topics will include variety performance, stand establishment, fertility and more. The event will… Read More →

By Thomas Isakeit, Professor and Extension Plant Pathologist Cotton: Bacterial blight, caused by the bacterium, Xanthomonas campestris pv. malvacearum, has been observed in some fields in the Lower Rio Grande Valley and the Blacklands growing areas. The characteristic symptoms are dark brown, angular spots on leaves, confined between veins, often with water soaking (PHOTO 1).Small, circular dark brown spots are also formed (PHOTO 2). Extensive lesions on leaves can result in defoliation. Circular, water-soaked lesions can also occur on bolls (PHOTO 3). The pathogen is seedborne. Acid-delinting greatly… Read More →

by Robert Bowling Bermudagrass Stem Maggot – The Bermudagrass stem maggot (BSM), Atherigona reversur, is native to several Asian countries. In 2010 it was reported damaging bermudagrass from three counties in Georgia. This invasive fly quickly spread across the southern U.S. and, in 2013, was first reported infesting bermudagrass in Texas. The adult BSM is a small yellowish fly with dark eyes. It lays eggs on the bermudagrass stem near a node. The immature (maggot or larva) stage is yellowish and grows to about 1/8th inch long. Larvae… Read More →

Gaylon Morgan, Professor and Extension Cotton Specialist Much of the South Texas, and possibly some of West Texas’ cotton acres, will be down due to the excessively wet weather both prior to planting and following planting. Planting the seed and stand establishment were initially the concerns in South and East Texas. Now the concern is how long can cotton handle saturated soils and cloudy conditions. Below is some information and considerations when trying to make management decisions on cotton during this wet spring and summer. In waterlogged soils,… Read More →

Ronnie Schnell, Ph.D. Cropping Systems Specialist Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, College Station Recent rain events have resulted in flooding or significant ponding of water in many corn and sorghum fields across Texas. While low-lying areas may be flooded, other areas of fields may be saturated for extended periods of time. How long can corn or sorghum survive under saturated or flooded conditions? What impact will these conditions have on grain yield, if any? Oxygen is required by plants for respiration, including above ground (shoots) and below ground (roots)… Read More →

by Dr. Calvin Trostle, Extension Agronomy, Lubbock Texas producers for both grain sorghum and sunflower can access current AgriLife summary information on grain sorghum and sunflower herbicides. Both guides were prepared by Dr. Calvin Trostle, Extension agronomist/state sunflower specialist, Lubbock; and Dr. Joshua McGinty, Extension agronomist/weed control, Corpus Christi. These guides do not provide specific advice about which herbicide to use or what might be best; rather these documents are oriented toward improving producer awareness of known labeled active ingredients (primarily by brand name or original herbicides). In… Read More →