Topics in this newsletter include: An article on Projected Impacts of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on Georgia Agriculture. What is going on with peanut maturity. The dry weather and cotton defoliation.
According to the US Drought Monitor released September 16, 100% of Colquitt County is experiencing abnormally dry conditions. Up from last week’s 49%.The dry conditions are impacting forage and hay production, and peanut maturity and digging.
According to the USDA Crop Progress report, 1% of Georgia cotton has been harvested and 2% of the Georgia peanut crop is harvested according to the September 15 report.
Peanut Maturity: It has been an interesting week at the peanut maturity checks. Georgia 06G has been the most common variety brought into the checks, consisting of over 38% of the total samples. Georgia 12Y and TifNV consisted of 21.8% and 15.5% of the total samples, respectively. The percentage of irrigated samples was 58%.
Table 1 shows the average age of maturity of dryland and irrigated samples during three planting periods of Georgia 06G, TifNV, and Georgia 12Y that have been brought into the Colquitt County Extension office.
Table 1. Average Age in Days to Maturity for Dryland and Irrigated Peanut Samples planted in April and May for Georgia 06G, TifNV, Dynagro 913, and Georgia 12Y in Colquitt County Extension maturity checks.
Somebody asked me the other day about the longest periods of time without rain. This data is from the Midwestern Regional Climate Center. If you select the NWS station located 2 miles southeast of Moultrie, Since 2000, there has been 10 times when no rain has occurred for a period of 30 days of longer. The longest period occurred in 2021 when we went 46 days without rain. Thirty or more days without rain have also occurred in 2022, 2023 and 2024. This weather station went 25 days without rainfall (2025-08-25 – 2025-09-18) but there is missing data from this weather station since the 18th. The UGA Weather Station at the Expo reported a rain event of 0.07 inches
Projected Impacts of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on Georgia Agriculture
The article reviews changes to the agriculture-related provisions in the OBBBA, including updates to commodity programs such as Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC), as well as crop insurance. It also discusses the economic impacts of these changes on Georgia producers.
What is the cotton defoliation recipe this week? Dr. Hand suggests 32-42 oz of Prep, 4 oz Dropp and 10oz of Folex. For dryland cotton do not skimp on the dropp because if it ever rains again regrowth could be an issue.
What are those big worms on my citrus tree? This has been a topic of discussion for a week or so among home citrus enthusiasts. These worms are probably the orange dog caterpillar, which is the larva of the giant swallowtail butterfly. The butterfly lays eggs that hatch on new growth flushes. The larvae consume the young foliage. The eggs are easy to see when looking at the young foliage. The butterfly is large and black and yellow. Treatment is seldom required on larger trees, but they can defoliate young trees. If you would like to treat, please consider a BT insecticide product.
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