Category Archives: Uncategorized
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 →
Cover Crops for Weed Management and Conservation Agriculture in Texas
Texas Row Crops Newsletter – Jodie McVane Reisner – May 2021 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… Read More →
Iron (Fe) Deficiency in Texas Crops Made Worse by Wet Weather
Dr. Calvin Trostle, Extension Agronomy, TAMU Dept. of Soil & Crop Sciences, Lubbock, (806) 746-6101, ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu; June 9, 2021 Much of Texas has experienced heavy rains, cloudy conditions, and water-logged soils since early May. Many crops will show signs of nutrient deficiency under such conditions. These include iron (Fe) and nitrogen. Symptoms for N and Fe nutrient deficiency may be confused with each other. Nitrogen is mobile within the plant. N deficiency leaf symptoms are expressed in older leaves. This is usually a broad… Read More →
Impact of Ponded Water/Flooding on Corn and Sorghum
Ronnie Schnell, Ph.D. Associate Professor and Cropping Systems Specialist Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, College Station Tony Provin, Ph.D. Professor and Extension Specialist – Soil Chemistry Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, College Station Numerous 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… Read More →
Reniform nematodes in cotton – new genetic resistance offers relief
Jennifer Dudak1, Reagan Noland2, Tom Isakeit1, Terry Wheeler3, Benjamin McKnight1, and Gaylon Morgan5 Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, College Station, TX Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, San Angelo, TX Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Lubbock, TX Cotton Incorporated, Cary, NC Reniform nematodes have proven to be detrimental to U.S. cotton production. In 2019, an estimated 189,000 bales of cotton were lost due to this pest hindering cotton performance (Figure 1) (Lawrence et al., 2020; United States Department of Agriculture National Statistics Service, 2020). TRCN 2021 Figures-1 A team… Read More →
Texas A&M AgriLife “Texas Row Crops Newsletter”—Industrial Hemp
Dr. Calvin Trostle, Professor & Extension Agronomist/AgriLife State Hemp Specialist, TAMU Dept. of Soil & Crop Sciences, Lubbock, (806) 746-6101, ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu Next “First Tuesday” Statewide Hemp Zoom Update from Texas A&M AgriLife—June 1 We continue the statewide Zoom updates we began in March. The June update will be Tuesday, June 1, 5:15-6:30 PM Central Time. We will continue throughout 2021 at the same time on the first Tuesday. June topics will include an update from Dr. Holly Davis, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension entomologist, Weslaco… Read More →
Northern Corn Leaf Blight
As was the case in the spring of 2020, the fungal disease of corn, northern corn leaf blight (NCLB) (Figure 1), is again a concern in the spring of 2021. In most years in south and central Texas, 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 progression of the disease. Cool, rainy… Read More →
On-Line Calculator to get Texas A&M Soil Test Recommendations based on Other Labs’ Test Values
Dr. Calvin Trostle, Extension Agronomy/TAMU Dept. of Soil & Crop Sciences, Lubbock, (806) 746-6101, ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu Dr. Tony Provin, Extension Soil Testing,/TAMU Dept. of Soil & Crop Sciences, College Station, (979) 845-4816, t-provin@tamu.edu May 4, 2021 Texas farmers have many choices for laboratories conducting their soil analyses. If you work with a fertilizer dealer, they may collect your soil samples, pay for analysis, and draw from the information to make recommendations. This is fine, just know there is a possible conflict of interest (sales). If someone does your soil… Read More →
Guar & Crop Insurance—USDA-RMA Feasibility Study: Follow-up
Dr. Calvin Trostle, Extension Agronomy, TAMU Dept. of Soil & Crop Sciences, Lubbock, (806) 746-6101, ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu Last September I noted the process underway to study the potential for guar to be added as a program crop for federal crop insurance. That earlier report is at https://agrilife.org/texasrowcrops/news/page/2/ USDA Risk Management Agency is currently administering a contract with Agralytica, Alexandria, VA to evaluate the feasibility of a guar crop insurance program. This has included face-to-face visits with farmers, documenting perils the crop may face, etc. Texas A&M AgriLife… 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 April 26, 2021 We will continue the statewide Zoom updates we began in March. I originally planned for “Third Thursday,” but there was a major conflict. The May update will be Tuesday, May 4, 5:15-6:30 PM Central Time. We will continue this throughout the summer at the same time on the first Tuesday. (If this is a poor timing for many hemp growers and industry staff,… Read More →