Topics included in This Newlsetter
- Row Crop Disease Update – Dr. Bob Kemerait, UGA Plant Pathologist
- Planting Time: Thrips and TSWV – Dr. Mark Abney, UGA Peanut Entomologist
- Calibrating Insecticide Hoppers on Planters – Dr. Wes Porter, UGA Precision Ag Specialist
- 2025 Pesticide Clean Day – Fulton County
Appling county corn planting has come to an end, peanut seed is going in the ground and cotton will not be far behind. If you are planting peanuts this early, consult peanut Rx to be sure you are doing as much as you can to tackle TSWV and especially consider the use of Thimet, if you are unsure how to use Peanut Rx or are not considering Thimet give the extension office a call or stop by . The county received around 1″ of rainfall early Monday morning, 4/28/25, this provided some much needed soil moisture. With there being little to no rain showing in the 10-day forecast it could be a good call to go on and hit some dryland fields to begin planting this week to utilize the current soil moisture. The SE District calibration unit is currently at the county office so call the extension office to schedule an insecticide hopper calibration. A few have already been done this week and last week, it is a real quick process and is better than trying to dial those boxes in while planting. If you want to calibrate your own insecticide hopper boxes an article has been made with instructions on how to do so, this article can be found later in this update. Also see later in this newsletter comments from Dr. Kemerait on Generic Products, a TSWV update from Dr. Abney, and an announcement on this years Pesticide Clean Day which will be hosted in Fulton County this year.
Row Crop Disease Update – Dr. Bob Kemerait
Generic Products
Generic fungicides are often very popular because they are typically less expensive and are readily available. The “less expensive” part is what makes their products very attractive to growers and they should be nearly the same in efficacy to “name brand” products. Here are a few things to consider when deciding between generic and name-brand products. 1) Ensure that the active ingredients are the same. Sometimes there can be confusion. 2) check the amount of active in the generic formulation as compared to the name-brand formulation. They may be different. 3) Generics will have a different suite of inert ingredients than do the name-brand products. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, if could have some impact on things like mixability and risk to injury. Maybe or maybe not. 4) last, when you buy a name-brand product you are likely to have great access to sales support if that matters to you.
Planting Time: Thrips and TSWV
This post will serve as my annual, early-season reminder about thrips and Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus management.
- First, there is nothing new when it comes to thrips and TSWV management. If someone tries to tell you or sell you something different, call your local UGA County Extension agent.
- Every peanut field in Georgia will have thrips. Thrips injury is most likely to result in yield loss when plants are under additional stress from herbicide injury, drought, cool temperatures, etc. I strongly encourage growers to use an at-plant insecticide to reduce the risk of losses to thrips injury.
- Thrips transmit TSWV. The only way peanut plants can acquire the virus is from thrips feeding.
- The most important factors that affect TSWV risk in peanut are:
- Cultivar resistance: planting a cultivar with resistance to TSWV is the critical first step to reducing risk.
- Planting date: planting before 10 May puts peanut at increased risk for TSWV because it exposes young plants to higher levels of thrips pressure.
- Phorate in-furrow: Phorate (Thimet) is the only insecticide that can be applied to peanut that reduces the risk of TSWV. Mixing other insecticides doesn’t do it; applying foliar insecticides doesn’t do it.
- Twin row pattern: twin row peanuts are at reduced risk for TSWV compared to single row.
- Plant Stand: Skippy stands or stands with fewer than 3 plants per foot are at increased risk for TSWV.
- Planting into residue: Thrips don’t like to land on peanuts when they are growing in small grain residue (like wheat or rye).
Research has shown that for every 1% TSWV found in a peanut field at harvest time, we can expect about a 20 pound reduction in per-acre yield. TSWV management is over when the furrow closes. Making good management decisions now, based on knowledge from years of research at UGA, will help reduce the likelihood of significant losses from the disease.
If you have questions about thrips and/or TSWV management, please contact your local University of Georgia Extension agent.
Subscribe to Dr. Abneys UGA Peanut Entomology Blog here: https://site.extension.uga.edu/peanutent/2025/04/planting-time-thrips-and-tswv/
Calibrating Insecticide Hoppers on Planters
2025 Pesticide Clean Day – Fulton County
The 2025 Georgia pesticide clean day has been announced.
The date is scheduled for May 13th, 2025, at St Ives Country Club in Johns Creek Ga from 9:00 am-3:00 pm. https://agr.georgia.gov/events/2025/pesticide-clean-day-event-fulton-county
The drop-off site address is: 1 St Ives Country Club Dr.
Johns Creek, GA 30097
United States
Preregistration is required for this free event; See below the preregistration form. Dealers are invited and will be charged an additional cost per pound.