Category Archives: Archive
Cotton on the Texas High Plains: Bollworms on the Radar
by Dr. Suhas Vyavhare, Assistant Professor and Extension Entomologist, Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center, Lubbock, TX Insect pressure remains light in most parts with cotton ranging from 5 nodes above white flower to hard cutout. We are seeing conchuela stink bug population reaching economic threshold in few fields in Crosby County. However, the infestation is much localized and it is unlikely that we will see economic stink bug infestations in cotton in other areas of the High Plains. I often encounter a few lygus adults and… Read More →
Texas Wheat Variety “Picks” for Grain: I. High Plains
by Dr. Calvin Trostle, Extension Agronomy, Lubbock, 806-746-6101, ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu; Dr. Jourdan Bell, Extension Agronomy, Amarillo, 806.677.5600, jourdan.bell@ag.tamu.edu Texas A&M AgriLife’s High Plains group has released our grain wheat variety “Picks” for the 2016-2017 cropping season. Our ongoing Picks criteria include a minimum of three years of data in AgriLife wheat variety trials across numerous annual locations within each region of Texas. For forthcoming Pick grain wheat varieties for other Texas regions see the note below. As we have noted before a “Pick” variety means this: given the data… Read More →
2016 Uniform Wheat Variety Trial Results for Rolling Plains of Texas
by Emi Kimura, Extension Specialist, Vernon, TX and Clark Neely, Small Grains Specialist, College Station, TX Variety selection is one of the most important decision that a producer needs to make before planting because it will affect yield, test weight, grain quality, and control of weeds, diseases, and insects. Therefore, unbiased and replicated variety trial results are critical to provide wheat producers comparative information of wheat varieties best suited for their wheat production region. The Uniform Wheat Variety Trial is a collaborative effort among AgriLife Research and Extension…. Read More →
Southern Plains of Texas: Watch out for Lygus
by Suhas Vyavhare, Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center, Lubbock, TX With the daytime highs over 100 degrees almost each day, cotton is squaring with some fields starting to bloom. Although we have received light and spotty showers, we need more over the next couple of weeks for the cotton to continue to grow. Insect pressure remains very low in most places. I know only of a couple of fields that needed to be treated for cotton fleahoppers (Swisher County) so far. Cotton fleahoppers are generally considered… Read More →
Sunflower (Head) Moth & Bloom Stage of Growth
by Dr. Calvin Trostle, Extension Agronomy, Lubbock, 806-746-6101, ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu Dr. Ed Bynum, Extension Entomology, Amarillo, 806-677-5600, ebynum@ag.tamu.edu Wherever sunflowers are grown in Texas (this year mostly in the High Plains), a standard and essential part of managing the crop is controlling sunflower (head) moth. When moth pressure is moderate damage to the sunflower crop from the larval feeding alone has an economic impact, and the subsequent opportunistic Rhizopus head rot infection can devastate yields. Sunflower moth control measures in our opinion rank in the following order: 1) timing,… Read More →
Southern Plains of Texas: Time to Look for Fleahoppers
by Suhas Vyavhare and Blayne Reed, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service The high temperatures, high humidity, and the passing of light cotton showers over the last couple of weeks have been very conducive for rapid crop growth and development. Most cotton fields on the Southern High Plains are past the 5th true leaf stage and are sporting pinhead through ¼ grown squares. This should mean they are no longer vulnerable to economic damage by thrips. There are some late fields and re-planted fields which can still be injured… Read More →
2016 Alternative Crop Options after Failed Cotton and Late-Season Crop Planting for the Texas South Plains
by Dr. Calvin Trostle, Extension Agronomy, Lubbock, 806-746-6101, ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu Hailstorms, wind damage, poor stands—and yes, occasionally too much rain(!)—place Texas farmers in a possible replant decision on a failed crop, usually cotton, or pushes planting back so much that cotton or other full-season crops are no longer viable. What to do? What are my options? New for 14th annual guide for the Texas South Plains are contributions from Dr. Seth Byrd, cotton extension agronomist, Lubbock, seth.byrd@ag.tamu.edu. The guide is oriented to the South Plains, but producers in the… Read More →
Southern Plains of Texas: Scout for Thrips
by Suhas Vyavhare, Assistant Professor and Extension Entomologist, Lubbock, TX; suhas.vyavhare@ag.tamu.edu and Blayne Reed It has been a very stop-n-go spring planting season for cotton in the Southern High Plains of Texas. Here we are again, waiting for rain to end so we can resume cotton planting. From Plainview north, an area consisting of our usually more calendar date conscientious producers, about 70% of the cotton has been planted while only about 50% South of Plainview. Rainfall this week has added much needed topsoil moisture helping dryland fields… Read More →
Sesame for Texas—High Plains & Rolling Plains
by Dr. Calvin Trostle, Extension Agronomy, Lubbock, 806-746-6101, ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu Sesame is a heat-tolerant, drought-tolerant crop that has a good fit in much of Texas. Due to its small seed size it may present a planting challenge for some farmers (the right planter plates/discs and proper settings alleviate this), and due to just a few registered herbicides (Sonalan, some grass herbicides for mid-season control, Dual products) sesame is not for your weedy ground. But sesame has crop rotation advantages, wild hogs largely seem to leave it alone, and there… Read More →
Texas Wheat Producers Once Again Concerned with Pre-Harvest Sprouting
by Dr. Clark B. Neely, Extension Small Grains Specialist, cbneely@tamu.edu So far, spring 2016 has been eerily similar to the spring of 2015 with wet conditions complicating wheat harvest for many producers in the state. In 2015, much of the pre-harvest sprouting (Figure 1) that occurred affected wheat in South Texas and the Blacklands. Low prices and the wet fall prevented many of the acres from being planted in this region for the 2016 crop. Though sprouting and crop failure in these region were or still are possible,… Read More →