A website from UGA Cooperative Extension

News, events, and happenings in Colquitt County agriculture.

Current Situation: Dry conditions continue in Colquitt County. The corn crop ranges from V8 to early tassel stage of development. The cotton crop ranges from just planted to 4th leaf stage. Thrip pressure has been high in some area cotton fields. The dry weather over the last few weeks could have influenced insecticide uptake and decreased the control of thrips. Growers are asking about peanut cracking sprays as the peanut planting nears its end. Wheat growers have started harvesting this week. Rain is chances have increased this week, according to the weather forecast (for Sunday, May 22, 2022). The May 17, 2022 drought monitor below shows that Colquitt County is experiencing abnormally dry conditions.

Cotton, Peanut, and Soybean Insect Scout Schools

Insect scouting schools will be conducted on June 6, 2022 in Tifton and June 14, 2022 in Midville. The Tifton scout school will be held at the Tifton Campus Conference Center.  If you are interested in attending the Tifton school please contact Tearston Adams at 229-386-3374.  

If you are interested in attending Midville school, which will be held at the Southeast Research and Education Center, please contact Peyton Sapp at 706-554-2119.

Crops to be covered include cotton, peanuts, and soybean.  These programs offer basic information on insect pest identification and damage, natural enemies, and scouting procedures.  The training will serve as an introduction to insect monitoring for new scouts and as a review for experienced scouts and producers. Program topics include, Bug and Larval Insect Pests, Beneficial Insects, Scouting Procedures, Safety, and an In-Field Review. Each program will begin at 9:00 a.m. and conclude at 12:30 p.m.

Peanut Cracking Sprays

As peanut planting concludes, cracking spray questions will start coming in.  Generally, peanuts must be kept weed free from 4 to 6 weeks after emergence in order to obtain optimum yields depending on weed.  Weed emergence after this time period will not reduce peanut pod yields but could influence harvest efficiency.  Below are comments from Dr. Eric Prostko, UGA Weed Scientist on peanut cracking sprays.

1) If grower wants to use the 3 lb/gal formulation of paraquat (i.e. Helmquat or Gramoxone 3SL), the normal application rate in these tank-mixtures is 8 oz/A (0.1875 lb ai/A).

2) If a grower wants to use Basagran 4SL (bentazon) instead of Storm 4SL (bentazon + acifluorfen), I would suggest using 8 oz/A of Basagran 4SL.

3) If a grower wants to make his own Storm, I would suggest the combination of Ultra Blazer 2SL @ 16 oz/A + Basagran 4SL @ 8 oz/A.

4) I am not a huge fan of using paraquat + Dual Magnum or any other Group 15 herbicide without some Basagran or Storm to cool it down some on the peanut plant.  

5) No adjuvants are needed when Dual Magnum or Outlook are used (i.e. oil-based formulations) but NIS @ 0.25% v/v (1 qt/100 gallons) is suggested when using Anthem Flex, Warrant, or Zidua.  

The pictures below were taken by Eric on May 20, 2022.  These are rates he has been testing for years and they work pretty much all the time (when applied to small weeds 1″-3″).  Higher rates and later applications, especially in dryland fields, can push a peanut plant’s paraquat tolerance to its limits.   

Considerations for replanting cotton.. Getting a cotton stand this year has been a challenge for some growers due to factors such as dry weather. According to the last drought monitor, Colquitt County is abnormally dry but the chances of rain increase this week (May 22, 2022). 

Replanting after the PRE
This information is the UGA Cotton Production Guide.  If previously used herbicides do not pose an injury risk, it is best to run the planter back in the original drill without any soil preparation if conditions permit. If reworking the seedbed is necessary then the following procedures are suggested:
Strip tillage: Rerun the strip-till rig which should include ripper shanks followed by planting; make
certain the operation does not concentrate the previously applied herbicide in the planting zone. After replanting, apply a PRE herbicide mixture that includes both a non-selective herbicide to control emerged weeds cotton and a residual herbicide. The residual herbicide should be different chemistry than that used with the original planting. It is likely the residual herbicide used with replanting may offer limited residual Palmer control; thus, the first POST application may need to be made quickly.
Conventional Tillage: For those who do not have strip-tillage implements, using shallow tillage such as light disking can be helpful. Do not re-bed without first disking. Re-bedding without disking can lead to severe injury. The amount of time that has passed and the amount of rainfall that has occurred between herbicide applications and replanting will determine the need for additional herbicides. In general, additional herbicides will be needed when replanting but one should switch residual herbicide chemistry from that used during the first planting.
Killing emerged cotton: Roundup, paraquat, and/or Liberty are encouraged to control emerged weeds and cotton when replanting. Paraquat or Aim will control small emerged cotton. Liberty is also
effective controlling cotton as long as it is not a cultivar tolerant to Liberty.

Below is a table from Dr. Jared Whitaker, former UGA Cotton Agronomist, to make replant decisions easier. 

The slide below show how planting date will effect cotton yield. In general, after first week of June, cotton yields start to decline.

Southern and Kudzu Rust monitoring…

Colquitt County is one of the counties where sentinel plot monitoring and scouting is taking place.
In these counties collections of corn, soybean, and kudzu samples make up the 2022 Sentinel Plot Program. To date, we have NOT found soybean rust, southern corn rust, or tar spot on the samples collected so far. You can follow the progress of our sampling for the sentinel plot monitoring on two
websites.

Corn

Soybean

According to Dr. Bob Kemeriat, UGA Plant Pathologist. “Given the conditions we have not, quite warm, I will not be surprised if we begin to find southern corn rust in the not-to-distant
future. I expect that development and spread of tar spot and soybean rust could be delayed.
As corn approaches tassel stage, remember that “VT” growth stage is a critical time to decide whether or not to make a fungicide application. Based on the data we have now, though a bit limited, I do not believe a fungicide application is warranted now UNLESS grower will have trouble getting in the field later.”

Procedure for Calibrating Granular Pesticide Applicators

Simmer Virk, UGA Precision Ag Specialist, has updated the Procedure for Calibrating Granular Pesticide Applicators publication. The publication contains information on how to properly calibrate granular pesticide applicators. 

Mr. Kichler, What is a good moisture to start harvesting my wheat? This question has come up more than once this past week from wheat growers.  

If the crop is being dried for immediate sale or for short-term storage (30 to 60 days), the moisture content should be reduced only to the extent necessary to meet market grade.

Because grain standards no longer relate moisture and grade, determine what is the maximum moisture acceptable without dockage. For example, if you determine wheat can be sold without dockage at 13.5 percent, then dry only to that level. Any further drying is money lost. If the grain is to be stored for very long, it must be dried further. Maximum grain moisture contents considered safe for 12-month storage for all small grains are 12 percent in northern Georgia and 11 percent in South Georgia. Moisture contents lower than these would, of course, be safer. The maximum storage moisture contents require management and aeration during storage. Reduce by 1 percent for poor quality grain, such as grain damaged by blight, drought, etc. Reduce by 2 percent for non-aerated storage.

What about my oats?  Oats should be harvested as soon as the grain moisture content drops to 13 percent. Rain or dew will cause discoloration of the grain and will lessen the marketability of the crop. Combining at high moisture (15 percent) and artificial drying may be warranted if kernel bright- ness is important. If drying is necessary, temperatures no higher than 110 degrees F should be used for oats intended for seed. Oats to be fed can be dried at temperatures up to 200 degrees F. (Source: Southern Small Grains Resource Management Handbook).

What did we do this week? This past week was busy. Chase Powell started his internship this past week at the Colquitt County Extension office. He will be learning about Extension and we are glad to have him at the office. His internship will run through August.

Chase Powell “The Intern”

Colquitt County On Farm Peanut Variety Trial. We planted a peanut variety trial this week at Moss Family Farms. The trial is evaluating the yield potential of 6 peanut varieties and was replicated four times. The varieties include Georgia 06G, Georgia 16HO, Georgia 18RU, Georgia 20VHO, AUNPL -17 and FL 331.

2022 Colquitt County Peanut Variety Trial

Packer Park Nematode Plot. This is the eight year of planting test plots at the Packer Park farm. This years cotton nematode plot will contain seven treatments replicated four times. Four of the treatments included the nematode resistant varieties DPL 2141, PHY 411, PHY 443 and DG 3644. The non resistant variety was DPL 1646 and was planted with and without 5 lbs of Ag Logic. The last treatment includes DPL 1646 with 5 lb Aglogic and a Vydate application applied post emerge. This plot could not have been possible without the help from Demott Farms.

Planting nematode plot at the Packer Park Farm, May 2022

Colquitt County On Farm Cotton Variety trial. We planted another location of the UGA on farm cotton variety trial this week at the Davis Family Farms. 12 cotton varieties were planted and each one was replicated three times.

Colquitt County Cotton Variety Trial, May 2022

Corn Fungicide Evaluation.. We applied our V8 fungicide treatment on our corn fungicide demonstration at the Expo this past week. Treatments include Xyway applied at planting, Mivavis Neo applied at V8 and an untreated check.

Applying V8 Fungicide Treatment at Sunbelt Expo Expo

On farm demonstrations such as the ones mentioned cannot be possible without the support of local growers and industry. If you have any questions or comments please contact your local county Extension agent.

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