Up coming events
The deadline for the Southeastern Hay contest is approaching.
Important Updates
- Entries should be postmarked by August 30, 2024 (NOTE UPDATED ENTRY DEADLINE DATE).
- Awards will be announced at the 2024 Sunbelt Ag Expo on Tuesday, October 15, 2024.
- For the latest updates and information, visit www.sehaycontest.com
Colquitt County Cotton Defoliation and Peanut Maturity Update is scheduled to be held on Thursday, August 29, 2024, at the Colquitt County Extension office starting at noon. If you would like to attend please call Kristina at the office (229-616-7455). Drs. Camp Hand and Scott Monfort will the speakers at this event.
Last week was another exciting week in Colquitt County agriculture. Corn harvest has started. Peanut producers are applying fungicides and trying to manage late season weed issues. Debbie impacted the area on Monday with rain and wind. The illustration below shows the accumulated precipitation (in) for last week. Colquitt County was on the edge of the storm. The east side of the county received more rain than the west side. Producers are starting to irrigate cotton and peanuts on the west side of county.
All About the Pod cast!! In this episode, Dr. Scott Monfort talked peanuts with Dr. Mark Abney, Dr. Scott Tubbs, Dr. Bob Kemerait, Dr. Eric Prostko, and Kaelyn Morgan. In this episode, the peanut team talked about the crop situation on August 9th after Tropical Storm Debby.
Peanuts: The peanut crop ranges from 60 to 105 days old. The insect situation has calmed down, but white mold has increased in some fields. I ran across peanuts that were going down and noted the scorched taproot and secondary roots of the peanut plant in the picture below. Tomato-spotted wilt causes this.
August is peanut disease month!! Dr. Bob mentions that there are two things to note. A) In this case, the white mold is active, and B) the white mold in this picture is CONTAINED, that is, it isn’t spreading. In SW GA, conditions are favorable for further white mold spread NOW. Take home point: “Big Gun” white mold materials almost always go out at 60 and 90 days after planting; a grower’s BEST choice of fungicides at 75 days and after 90 days depends on A) leaf spot concerns and B) whether or not white mold is contained. If it is active but contained, fungicides like tebuconazole and azoxystrobin (less expensive) + leaf spot fungicides are likely appropriate to further contain the disease. Where white mold is on a “jail break,” it is prudent to make use of a more aggressive (and costly) fungicide. re white mold is on a “jail break” it is prudent to make use of a more aggressive (and costly) fungicide.
There have been a few calls about foliage feeding caterpillars in peanuts this past week. I have observed low populations of velvetbean caterpillar and soybean looper, but not at any treatable levels.
Scouting Peanuts After the Storm — Dr. Mark Abney
Among the items on a long list of things that will need attention after this week’s storm has passed is scouting peanut fields for insect pests. We are already experiencing higher than “normal” caterpillar pressure this year, and we are now entering the portion of the season when velvetbean caterpillar and soybean looper typically show up and often exceed thresholds. No one has to tell me that growers are tired of spending money to manage what seems like a never-ending caterpillar infestation. Giving up now is not the answer. If and when caterpillars reach threshold, they need to be managed or yield will be lost. The fact that we sprayed an insecticide 14 days ago does not matter if there are “worms” eating your peanuts today.
Accurately assessing pest pressure with unbiased scouting is the only way to know if an insecticide application is needed. Likewise, correctly identifying the species of caterpillar(s) is critical for making the most cost effective and efficacious treatment decision.
Those walking peanut fields in the coming weeks will also be seeing increasing numbers of three cornered alfalfa hopper (TCAH). Research suggests that this insect causes only minor injury to peanut. This, coupled with difficulty killing them, rapid re-infestation, and the risk associated with flaring secondary pests when pyrethroid insecticides are used, is the reason treating TCAH is generally not recommended. We will also be finding rednecked peanut worm and potato leaf hopper. There are no valid thresholds for either of these insects, and though they can probably have an impact on yield, it takes a lot of them to to matter.
Irrigation requirements for peanuts in August.
PGR use in peanuts..
A few words from Dr. Scott Monfort, UGA Peanut Agronomist, on PGR use in peanut.
The crop is finally looking better and GROWING as a result of the recent rains across Georgia along with a break in the 95+-degree temperatures. Like I mentioned earlier, a majority of the crop is between 60 – 75 DAP. Several agents/growers/consultants are asking questions regarding the application of a growth regulator (APOGEE WDG, KUDOS WDG, and KUDOS OD). Below are a few comments based on the questions I’ve received.
- Is there any concern in applying the growth regulator in 95+ temperatures and dry conditions?
- Remember, I do not recommend a growth regulator on non-irrigated peanuts. I cannot predict whether a grower will continue to get rain.
- Based on last year, in irrigated peanut, I would not use a growth regulator when conditions are 95 degrees and extremely dry unless the grower can keep up on the water needs of the plant.
- When growers want to apply a peanut growth regulator (PGR), and conditions are hot and dry, irrigate first before applying the growth regulator.
- The recommended rates for the PGR are 3.5 to 5.4 oz/A, applied twice. Initial application is at 90-100% lap with the 2nd application 14-21 days later. Remind growers the higher the rate the more yield they could risk losing.
- The PGR is not for all growers, fields or cultivars.
- What about mixing with other pesticides or fertility products?
- I would not recommend applying it with any herbicide at this time (Cobra, 2,4 DB, etc.).
- For the initial application (65-70 DAP), 1.) do not apply early to save a trip with the 60 DAP fungicide application and 2.) do not wait until 65 to 70 DAP to apply the fungicide either. Go ahead and recommend them splitting the applications to make sure we stay on time with all products.
- I have not tested with micro fertilizer packages.
- The more you mix the more you risk causing burn to the crop. The more the burn the less management of vines you will receive.
- Remember, 1lb (16 oz) of a Nitrogen source is needed for the PGR to work properly. One quart of Crop Oil Concentrate (COC) is also recommended. However, when you mix with fungicides you can leave the COC out.
- Kudos has a 25 day PHI.
- I am currently evaluating different rate structures and application timings.
Corn: Corn producers are beginning to harvest their crop in Colquitt County. This corn crop has seen its fair share of difficulties such as hot, dry weather, and a very rainy weather pattern. We’re hoping for a safe and successful harvest season. I have received a question or two about harvest aid applications for corn. Dr. Eric Prostko, a UGA Weed scientist, says that his usual recommendation is to apply a combination of Roundup and Aim. The PHI for glyphosate and Aim is 7 and 3 days, respectively, according to the Pest Control Handbook. This treatment will not miraculously remove the running morningglory plants, but it will desiccate them enough to facilitate harvesting (i.e., make the vines more brittle and less likely to wrap). See below for more specifics from the 2024 UGA Pest Control Handbook.
Cotton: Producers need to monitor whitefly populations behind the storm. Dr. Phillip Roberts, UGA Cotton Entomologist, mentioned in the last UGA Cotton Team Newsletter about whitefly monitoring. Adult silverleaf whiteflies (SLWF) are monitored weekly throughout the year at selected locations on roadside right of ways. Yellow sticky cards are used to attract and capture SLWF as they move through the landscape. Mean SLWF captures by week can be found on the Overall Trap Catch map. We have recently launched a website, https://stopwhitefly.org/monitoring/ , which illustrates weekly captures for the past five years. Below are last week’s stick trap numbers.
Tanner Wilson, Colquitt County Extension ANR Educator, is monitoring stick traps in the south and west parts of the county on a weekly basis. Below is Table 1 that shows sticky trap captures at 6 locations in Colquitt County for the period of July 2–30, 2024. All the traps blew away last week due to the storm.
I have received a question or two about foliar diseases in cotton. As of today (August 11, 2024) I have seen some target spot in area fields but no reports of areolate mildew.
According to Dr. Bob, “Areolate mildew (Figure 3) has been increasingly severe in Georgia since 2017. Areolate mildew was historically confined to southeastern Georgia east of I-75; however it can be found across Georgia now. When areolate mildew arrives late in the season it may not result in any loss in yield and use of a fungicide is not warranted. In fact, late-season defoliation may help to reduce boll rot. However, when the disease occurs more than a month ahead of anticipated defoliation, Priaxor and Miravis Top are effective at minimizing losses and protecting yield. (Until last year azoxystrobin was also an effective fungicide for management of areolate mildew; research continues in 2024 to determine if it is still an appropriate fungicide.)
Growers within three weeks of defoliating their cotton need not worry about managing areolate mildew. Where areolate mildew occurs in a crop with anticipated defoliation a month or more away, and weather is favorable for continued development and spread of the disease, then use of a fungicide is very often beneficial to protect yield by as much as 200 pounds of lint per acre.”
This year two studies are being conducted in two grower fields evaluating the potential of increasing cotton yield with foliar fungicides. One field demo was established in July and the other one last week. Field demos would not be possible without the help from growers and industry.
How much do I irrigate my cotton this month?
Have a safe week and if you have questions please call the office,
Jeremy M. Kichler
Colquitt County Extension Coordinator
The University of Georgia Cooperative Extension does not endorse or guarantee the performance of any products mentioned in this update.