Disease Management is Critical in August for Peanut Farmers
\nBob Kemerait<\/p>\n
There is not a peanut farmer in the state of Georgia, at least a successful one, who doesn\u2019t
\nrecognize the threat from diseases and nematodes to his or her crop and who doesn\u2019t recognize
\nthe importance of a good management program. Still, growers often have many questions in
\nAugust, primarily because they are uncertain on best disease management strategies. Below
\nare some points to consider.<\/p>\n
1. Why are diseases such a threat in August? There are several reasons. First, weather
\nhow is typically very warm and, this year, quite wet. Hot and wet weather adds up to
\nnear-perfect conditions for development of fungal diseases. Second, the peanut crop
\nhas developed to a point where it is increasingly vulnerable to disease. The growth of
\nthe foliar canopy traps humidity and extends leaf wetness creating perfect conditions for
\npathogenic molds to grow. This thick blanket of leaves also inhibits movement of
\nfungicides from the top to the plant to the crown of the plants where they are needed to
\nprotect against important diseases. Third, protecting pods and pegs from disease is
\nimportant, but getting a fungicide to them is very difficult. Last, diseases have likely
\nbeen developing slowly since soon after the peanut crop was planted. By August, there
\nare more spores present to cause significant disease and, also, small amounts of
\ndisease that may have been invisible to the grower may suddenly \u201cexplode\u201d and be
\nreadily visible.<\/p>\n
2. How should management programs in August differ from programs earlier in the
\nseason? There are four main differences between fungicide programs in August versus
\nearlier in the season. First, white mold and Rhizoctonia limb rot control is very important
\nin later-season fungicide applications and much less important earlier in the season.
\nSecond, selection of fungicides with some level of \u201ccurative\u201d or \u201csystemic\u201d activity
\nbecomes more critical later in the season when disease is likely present in the field.
\nThird, with the thick blanket of leaves that has likely developed, it becomes increasingly
\nimportant to use water from either rainfall or irrigation to help translocate the fungicide
\nfrom upper leaves to the lower limbs and crown of the plant. Last, given weather
\nconditions and amount of disease in the field, growers may need to tighten (shorten)
\nspray intervals to improve chances for adequate disease control.<\/p>\n
3. Should I change I change up my fungicide program? Two of the most common
\nquestions I receive this time of the year are, \u201cWhat should I spray next?\u201d and \u201cI have
\nbeen on one spray program but should I change to a new fungicide program?\u201d Growers
\nare understandably nervous this time of year to ensure that the fungicides they use are
\nappropriate for controlling important diseases. This is especially true when they find
\nsome leaf spot or some white mold in their fields. Growers need to be reminded that
\nnone of our programs are \u201cBullet Proof;\u201d with conditions we have now even the very best
\nprograms are likely to have some disease in the field. Growers who use an \u201cala carte\u201d
\nprogram should carefully scout their fields and select fungicides for upcoming
\napplications based upon risk and what is present. Growers who are on a specific
\nfungicide program may consider modifying their program if a) an unexpected amount of
\ndisease is developing in the field, of b) if conditions, e.g., weather, change and increase
\nrisk beyond what was initially expected.<\/p>\n
4. The most important management practices to minimize diseases in the peanut crop are
\nto a) be timely with your fungicide applications, b) tighten spray intervals when
\nconditions become more favorable for disease, c) use irrigation or rainfall to help
\ntranslocate fungicides from the upper leaves to the crown of the plant to better manage
\ndiseases like white mold and d) consider use of a more effective (and likely more costly
\nfungicide) with greater efficacy and perhaps systemic activity IF disease control seems
\nto be less than expected. No fungicide program will absolutely keep disease out of the
\nfield; appropriate fungicide programs (timing, selection, water) will help a peanut grower
\nto be profitable this season and into the future<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Disease Management is Critical in August for Peanut Farmers Bob Kemerait There is not a peanut farmer in the state of Georgia, at least a successful one, who doesn\u2019t recognize the threat from diseases and nematodes to his or her crop and who doesn\u2019t recognize the importance of a good management program. Still, growers often […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":234,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-disease","category-peanuts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/benhillcoag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/benhillcoag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/benhillcoag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/benhillcoag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/234"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/benhillcoag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/benhillcoag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":158,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/benhillcoag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153\/revisions\/158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/benhillcoag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/benhillcoag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/benhillcoag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}