A website from UGA Cooperative Extension

News, events, and happenings in Colquitt County agriculture.

In this issue:

Upcoming Production Meetings

Great news!!!

Georgia Ag Forecast

2023 Georgia Peanut Farm Show — Seed Seminar Presentations

Precision Ag/Irrigation Meeting

Brake Peanut Label (Prostko)

Traditional Stock-to-Use Ratios are of Little Value in Determining Peanut Prices

Upcoming Production Meetings:

Colquitt County Peanut Production Meeting — Friday, February 10, 2023 at noon.

Colquitt County Row Crop Weed Management Meeting — Monday, February 13, 2023 at noon

Colquitt County Pecan Production Meeting — Thursday, February 16, 2023 at noon

Colquitt County Cotton Production Meeting — Wednesday, March 1, 2023 at 6:30 PM

Great news!!! Two Colquitt County farmers were recognized for their services to agriculture last week.
At the University of Georgia Ag Forecast ceremony held at the UGA Tifton Campus Conference Center, Bart Davis was honored as Georgia’s Farmer of the Year.

Bart Davis named the Georgia Farmer of the Year at the Georgia Ag Forecast (1/27/23)

Mr. Louie Perry was awarded the Georgia Cotton Commission’s Inaugural Trustee’s Award. This award was presented at the 2023 Georgia Cotton Commission Annual Meeting January 25 in Tifton. The Trustees’ Awards are awarded to individuals who have dedicated themselves to the advancement of the cotton industry in Georgia.

Talyor Sills, Executive Director at the Georgia Cotton Commission, Louie Perry, Jr., of Moultrie, Bart Davis, Chairman of the Georgia Cotton Commission, and Mike Lucas of Cochran

Georgia Ag Forecast: The Georgia Ag Forecast was held last week at the Tifton Conference Center. The University of Georgia, the state’s land-grant and flagship institution, is committed to sharing the latest economic projections for U.S. and state agriculture to guide farmers and agribusinesses. CAES economists provide an outlook of agricultural markets for the coming year and keynote speakers focus on important and trending topics. The summery of presentations from this event can be seen here.

2023 Georgia Peanut Farm Show — Seed Seminar Presentations — The Georgia Peanut Commission has posted the presentations from the Seed Seminar that was held at the Peanut Farm Show. If you would like to hear Dr. Bob, Scott Monfort, Mark Abney or other members of the UGA Peanut team discuss various aspects of peanut production then go to the Georgia Peanut Commission YouTube page.

Precision Ag/Irrigation Meeting: Drs. Wes Porter and Simer Virk were the keynote speakers last Friday (January 27, 2023) at the Colquitt County Extension office. Topics included irrigation scheduling apps, and soil sampling. Simer’s slides on soil sampling are below.

Dr. Simer Virk discusses soil sampling.
Wes Porter discussing irrigation scheduling apps..

Brake Peanut Label (Prostko)

I just received the news earlier today that Brake (fluridone) has received EPA approval for use in the 2023 peanut crop.  After final label approval from the GA Dept. of Agriculture, it should be a done deal.  I have been working with this herbicide for 10+ years and am very glad that peanut growers will have another tool in their toolbox.  Here are a few questions/answers that you might find helpful when talking about Brake with your growers: 

1) Who is the manufacturer of Brake herbicide?

Brake was developed by SePRO Ag (https://ag.sepro.com)

2) What is the active ingredient in Brake?

The active ingredient in Brake is fluridone.  Fluridone is also sold in the aquatic weed control market under the trade name of Sonar.  Fluridone was first registered for aquatic use in 1986.

3) What is the mode of action (MOA) of Brake?

Brake is a WSSA/HRAC Group 12 herbicide.  Group 12 herbicides block carotenoid biosynthesis in susceptible plants by inhibiting the phytoene desaturase enzyme.  This ultimately leads to the destruction of chlorophyll and membrane lipids.  Brake has the same MOA as Solicam/Zorial (norflurazon) which has been labeled in peanut since 1993 but has not been used that much (at least in my 26 year peanut career).

4) How long has UGA been testing Brake for use in peanut?

Initial research on the use of fluridone in peanuts began in 2013.

5) What rate of Brake should be applied in peanut?

Brake 1.2LC can be applied preplant (14 days) or preemergence at 12 oz/A (0.113 lb ai/A) but no later than 36 hours after planting.  We are collecting additional data with the goal of increasing this timeline after planting (but before cracking/emergence).  Brake needs at least 0.5″ of rainfall or irrigation to be properly activated.  Peanut seed must be planted at least 1.5″ deep.

6) Is Brake a stand alone product?  

NO! Brake should always be applied in combination with a grass herbicide (i.e. Dual Magnum, Outlook, Prowl, Sonalan, or Warrant) and Strongarm (when rotations permit). It can also be tank-mixed with Valor.

Figure 1.  Comparison of a Valor-based peanut weed control program and a Brake-based peanut weed control program, Ty Ty, GA (2022)

7) What peanut cultivars has Brake been tested on?

Brake has been tested on the following peanut cultivars in Georgia: GA-06G; GA-16HO; GA-18RU; GA-20VHO; GA-12Y; AUNPL-17; TifNV High O/L; and FloRun 331.  In some tests, GA-16HO has exhibited more leaf injury (bleaching) but yields were not reduced. Injury from Brake is more likely to occur when excessive rates are used and when environmental conditions are unfavorable (i.e. cold and wet).

Figure 2.  Brake (fluridone) injury on peanut. 

8) How much will Brake cost?

Estimated cost for 12 oz/A will be somewhere around $16.

9) What are the crop rotation restrictions for Brake?

Current crop rotation restrictions for Brake are as follows: cotton = 0 months; soybean = 2 months; wheat/barley/rye = 8 months (5 months if grown as cover and not harvested); corn/sorghum = 10 months; and tobacco/sunflower = 18 months.

10) Why would a grower consider using Brake in a peanut weed control program?

a) Brake adds an additional herbicide MOA to the peanut weed control toolbox which is extremely beneficial for resistance management.

b) Brake is very effective on Palmer amaranth.  

11) A copy of the Supplemental Label must be in the possession of the user at the time of application (after GA Dept. of AG approval).

Traditional Stock-to-Use Ratios are of Little Value in Determining Peanut Prices (Article from the Southern Ag Today written by Festus Attah, Graduate Research Assistant, Auburn University and Adam N. Rabinowitz Assistant Professor, Auburn University)

A common approach adopted by analysts and researchers is to investigate the relationship between the marketing year average price and the stocks-to-use ratio.  The stocks-to-use ratio (S/U) is often cited as an easy representation of the relationship between supply and demand.  When the S/U ratios are low, the supply of the commodity is low relative to the demand.  This is typically an indicator of high prices.  When the S/U ratios are high, the supply of the commodity is high relative to the demand.  Prices in these cases would be expected to be much lower.

The marketing year average price, as determined by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), is the weighted average of monthly prices of commodities surveyed during the marketing year, whereas the S/U ratio is computed as the ratio of ending stocks to total demand during the marketing year. The marketing year varies for different commodities. Corn and soybeans have marketing years from September 1 to August 31.  Peanuts has a marketing year of August 1 to July 31. 

We look at the relationship between S/U ratios and prices for corn and soybeans in figures 1 and 2.  During the period of 2003-2021, we clearly observe the expected downward sloping relationship for corn and soybeans.  As the supply increases, relative to the demand, the price of the commodity is lower.  Figure 3 shows the relationship between S/U ratios and the price of peanuts, or more precisely the lack of any relationship between these two indicators.  In other words, there is no relationship between current peanut prices and current measures of supply and demand. READ MORE

Have a great week,

Jeremy M. Kichler

Colquitt County Extension Coordinator