Category Archives: Archive
How to Address Uneven Emergence in Cotton
by Seth Byrd, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, Lubbock, TX. Many fields are just seeing some cotton emerge after rains moved across the Texas High Plains in late June. This is most often the case in dryland fields where cotton was dry planted, or planted into soil with insufficient moisture to result in germination, or in a lot of cases, no moisture at all. While this was done in hopes that rain would soon follow, for many fields it was over a month before a significant rain was received… Read More →
Insect Pest Management Update
by David Kerns, Professor & IPM Coordinator In cotton we have been seeing a great deal of bollworms activity in Bt cotton and there have been quite a few insecticide applications going out. A lot of these reports have been coming out of the Wharton and Corpus Christi areas, but it is not confined to just those locations. In the Brazos River Bottom, we had a field of WideStrike cotton that virtually had a worm in every terminal and as much as 40% fruit loss in the upper… Read More →
What is wrong with my wheat?: Multiple issues perplexing growers in Central and South Texas
by Dr. Clark Neely, Statewide Small Grains Extension Specialist, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension 2017 has been another interesting year once again for wheat growers in the Texas Blacklands and South Texas. Chances are you or someone you know who grows wheat has asked at some point, “What is wrong with my wheat?!” There appears to be a number of factors at play this spring causing wheat to look abnormal, poor, or “raggedy”. I will attempt to cover the most likely culprits and some less likely ones too in… Read More →
Sugarcane Aphid Update
by Robert Bowling, Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist –Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Sugarcane aphid on sorghum in Hildalgo County was detected on March 21, 2017 by Danielle Sekula-Ortiz. Sugarcane aphid colonies were small and the field had not reached an economic population but there are several important considerations with this detection. Winged aphids were found in some of the colonies. This means the aphid is mobile and strong southerly winds will carry the aphid into other areas of the Rio Grande Valley and eventually to the Upper Gulf… Read More →
GOSS’S WILT OF CORN: ABILITY TO OVERWINTER IN TEXAS
by Thomas Isakeit, Professor and Extension Plant Pathologist, College Station Goss’s wilt is a bacterial disease of corn, caused by Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. nebraskensis. In recent years, its range has expanded beyond the Midwestern states, where it had been confined for decades. Outbreaks in Texas were confirmed in 2009, 2014 and 2016. Most of the affected fields were in the High Plains, but there have been occurrences in the Blacklands and Upper Coast growing areas (Figs. 1 &2). At this point, I don’t know whether these occurrences represent… Read More →
Within-Row Plant Spacing—Ensuring Planter Accuracy of Seed Drop
by Calvin Trostle, Extension Agronomy, Lubbock, (806) 723-8432, ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu In recent newsletters for Texas Grain Sorghum Association I first discussed row spacing for grain sorghum then especially in-row spacing of seed drop and the accuracy (or lack thereof) of uniform seed spacing within the row (see http://texassorghum.org/sorghum-tips). Here, I expand the with-in row discussion to all Texas row crops. On a smaller scale of about two to six inches within any row spacing, it may seem the uniformity of seed spacing is not that important for row crops. Yes,… Read More →
USING TOPGUARD TERRA TO CONTROL COTTON ROOT ROT: NEW LABEL AMENDMENTS
by Thomas Isakeit, Professor and Extension Plant Pathologist, College Station, TX. Until recently, Topguard Terra (flutriafol), which is used for control of Phymatotrichopsis root rot of cotton (“cotton root rot”), was labeled only for application at the time of planting. There are two at-planting methods: a T-band application or a modified in-furrow application. Now, growers have additional options that allow application before or after planting. The Texas Department of Agriculture has approved a FIFRA a 2ee supplemental label for additional methods of application. The fungicide can be applied… Read More →
Best Management Practices for Auxin-Tolerant Cotton Technologies (Current 2/22/17)
by Josh McGinty – Extension Agronomist – Corpus Christi, TX: Phone: 361-265-9203, Email: joshua.mcginty@ag.tamu.edu Gaylon Morgan – State Cotton Specialist – College Station, TX Peter Dotray – Extension Weed Specialist – Lubbock, TX In recent news, new auxin herbicides have received Section 3 approval for use in XtendFlex (dicamba-tolerant) and Enlist (2,4-D tolerant) cotton. Currently, three dicamba herbicides (XtendiMax™ with VaporGrip™ Technology, FeXapan™, and Engenia™) and one 2,4-D containing herbicide (Enlist Duo™ with Colex-D™ Technology) have received federal approval. At the time of this writing, XtendiMax with VaporGrip… Read More →
Herbicide Update in Wheat
by Dr. Clark Neely, Small Grains Extension Specialist, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Despite the fact that we are still in mid-winter, late January in southern Texas through early March in the Panhandle is the ideal time for not only topdressing wheat, but also taking care of any persistent weed problems in your wheat fields before the spring green-up. This article will cover some of the new herbicides hitting the market that are labelled for wheat and where they might be most useful. While we did not see… Read More →
Transgenic Insect Traits and Variety Selection in Cotton
by Suhas Vyavhare, Extension Cotton Entomologist, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Variety selection is the most important decision made during the year. Selecting Bt vs non-Bt or the kind of insect trait package is an important consideration in selecting cotton varieties. Bt cotton is genetically altered to produce certain proteins which are toxic to specific groups of insects. For example, currently available Bt traits in cotton specifically target worm pests such as cotton bollworm, tobacco budworm, and beet armyworm. On the other hand, conventional, or non-Bt cotton does… Read More →