With the impending arrival of La Nina (see related post today), farmers can start to make some educated guesses about what the winter weather conditions are likely to be. My colleague Bob Kemerait of the University of Georgia wrote an article for Southeast Farm Press describing the likely effects of a warmer and drier than usual winter on diseases, volunteer crops, pests, and nematodes. If you are a farmer, you will need to keep these effects in mind as you plan for this winter’s cover crops and prepare for next year’s growing season. The warm conditions so far this fall have led to the appearance of volunteer cotton and peanuts which can harbor diseases and could carry over problems into the next growing season. The image below shows peanuts reblooming after harvest due to the lack of frost. As long as it is still alive, it can provide food that will keep unwanted critters alive. The current long-range models do not show frost in most parts of the Southeast except for in higher elevations and in the most northern areas through the end of November, so this will continue to be a problem into December.
