Table of contents:
- Current Situation
- Fusarium Head Blight
- Preplant Burndowns for Peanut (Prostko)
- Tips on Managing Seedling Disease in Cotton
- Small grain irrigation.
- Cotton burndown
- Pecan Blog Update—Managing the Increase in Pecan Fertilizer Costs
- Corn Variety Plots
Current situation: It is dry! There were producers cutting and baling oats for baleage last week. A few calls about wheat irrigation. Corn planting is in progress. The corn crop ranges from just planted to V4. The wheat crop ranges from early boot to anthesis. The drought monitor shows that all of Colquitt County is experiencing extreme drought.
Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) has been a topic of discussion with growers, consultants and retailers over the last week. Growers need to monitor the stage of development of their wheat crop over the next few weeks in order to make fungicide application decisions.
The fungi that causes FHB can overwinter on crop stubble such as wheat, barley, and corn, and as soilborne inoculum. FHB is introduced into a field through infected seed or wind-borne inoculum. The fungus is spread rapidly by rain splash and wind. The head, and in particular the open female flower during anthesis (pollination), is most susceptible to infection by Fusarium spores. Some infection can occur during kernel development. Moist environmental (rain, irrigation, fog, and long evening dew periods) conditions favor spore (inoculum) production and infection. Recent models have suggested that three or more rain or irrigation events from anthesis until 3-5 days post-anthesis and temperatures ranging from 77 to 86 degrees F (25 to 30 degrees C) will result in severe scab if inoculum is present and the variety is susceptible.
How do we manage this disease? FHB control using fungicides can be a challenge because of timing. Foliar applications with a triazol fungicide work best when applied at or within a week of early flowering (Feekes 10.5.1). Applying fungicides earlier (at heading, Feekes 10-1-10.5) will not sufficiently suppress FHB and DON. However, recent studies have shown that delaying application 5-7 days after the start of flowering can still suppress FHB and DON — in other words, later fungicide applications can still be effective in case of delays (such as weather) (Source –Optimizing Fungicide Use for Fusarium Head Blight (Scab) and Associated Mycotoxins – Publication from the Crop Protection Network).
Strobilurin fungicides are not recommended for the management of FHB. Research from other states indicate that strobilurin fungicides can increase the DON content of FHB infected grain. Below are the recommended fungicides for the management of FHB, rates and efficacy. This information is from the 2026 UGA Pest Management handbook.
.Another interesting tool for the management of FHB is the Fusarium Head Blight Prediction Model. This model helps wheat producers predict the severity of this disease in their area. The model can be seen at https://www.wheatscab.psu.edu/
The illustration shows the 4 day risk forecast from the Fusarium Head Blight Model for March 29, 2026 for susceptible wheat varieties.
Preplant Burndowns for Peanut (Prostko)
I have been getting a few calls about preplant burndown options for strip-till peanut fields. They say a picture is worth a 1000 words so see below for a few options. As a reminder, the plant-back restriction for peanut after 2,4-D is 7 days and 0 days (1 oz/A) or 7 days (2 oz/A) for Reviton. Also, remember that Reviton has no soil residual activity.
Figure 1. Preplant burndown with Roundup PowerMax3 + 2,4-D amine + Valor EZ, March 27, 2026 (7 DAT), UGA Ponder Farm.
Figure 2. Preplant burndown with Roundup PowerMax3 + Reviton, March 27, 2026 (7 DAT), UGA Ponder Farm
Tips on Managing Seedling Disease in Cotton
I have received a question or two about managing cotton seedling disease. Below are a few points to consider from the UGA Cotton Production Guide.
Good management practices to reduce the chance of seedling disease include the following:
- Plant in warm soils where the temperature at a 4-inch depth is above 65° F and where the 5-day forecast doesn’t call for cooler or cooler/wetter weather. NOTE: Cotton growers should NOT plant cotton if at all possible when conditions are cool and wet or if the forecast calls for such conditions soon after planting, even if they plan to use additional fungicide treatments!
- Plant seed on a raised bed since soil temperatures in the bed are generally slightly warmer than surrounding soil and drainage is likely to be better. Cotton planted in conservation tillage is not grown on raised beds, thus potentially increasing the threat from seedling disease.
- Avoid planting seed too deeply. Seed that is planted too deeply results in longer periods before the young seedling cracks the soil surface, increasing the likelihood of seedling disease.
- Correct soil pH with lime (pathogenic fungi are more tolerant to acidic soils than are cotton seedlings; pH should be in the range of 6.0 to 6.5).
- Fertilize according to a soil test so as to promote rapid seedling growth; however care should be taken to avoid “burning” the seedling with excessive rates of at-plant fertilizers.
- Avoid chemical injury through the use of excessive amounts or improper application of insecticides, fungicides, or pre-plant herbicides.
- Plant only high quality seed as indicated by the percent germination in the standard seed and cool germination tests. Preferably, cool germination test results should be above 70%, though 60-69% is still adequate.
- Additional seed treatment fungicides such as Dynasty CST, Trilex advanced, and Acceleron, beyond the “base” treatment can significantly reduce the amount of seedling disease, increase stands, and potentially improve final yields where conditions are favorable for disease development. However, significant outbreaks of seedling diseases are a sporadic problem. Because we cannot reliably predict which years will have greater amounts of seedling disease, growers can become justifiably frustrated when trying to determine the economic benefit of the additional fungicide.
Small grain irrigation.
According to Dr. Wes Porter, UGA Irrigation guy, generally, for wheat you can estimate that you are approximately 1:1 with our ET values from your local weather stations. This is a good guide for an irrigation recommendation. Wheat acts very similar to a forage or grass crop, the ET value from the weather station reports is created from a well-covered grass area. While research shows that during peak water usage wheat can use up to 15% more water than an ET value our higher humidity usually accounts for that. With our recent humidity values below 50% if you have wheat in the mid-season period, or between tillering and anthesis you will need to multiply the daily ET from the weather stations by 1.15 and total this amount over a few days to get a recommended irrigation amount.
EXAMPLES:
For example, the ET near Tifton the past two days has been around 0.18, so 0.18*1.15 = 0.21”, so at this rate, you need about an inch (85% efficiency) every four days to account for the water loss to ET. I would not apply an inch at a time. I highly suggest splitting that into multiple applications. I.e. two 0.5” applications every 4 to 5 days or two 0.6” applications every 5 to 6 days if our conditions don’t change. We are very dry, and are lacking subsoil moisture significantly, thus, if you are trying to harvest a reputable yield for wheat you will need to stay on top of water requirements over the next month to month and a half. However, once you get to grain fill and past the crop coefficient (Kc) drops rapidly from 1.15 down to 0.3.
Depending on planting date and maturity most people are probably around the 0.5 to 0.6 crop coefficient range right now (lower than I mentioned above but we will move into the higher Kc stage soon), but keep in mind we are warming up into the upper 80’s so ET rates will be higher. You should multiply these ET values by your weather station ET.
I suggest checking the nearest weather station, total up the past 3 or 4 days of ET and see what needs to be replaced via irrigation. Do keep in mind not to irrigate during pollination as this increases the likelihood of head scab/blight. For the growers that don’t want to irrigate a lot or don’t have the investment/payoff from wheat to irrigate too much my recommendation is to irrigate before pollination (.2 – .3 inches) if they are really dry because we don’t want it severely stressed during pollination and reduce pollination and then schedule the majority of the irrigation for the grain filling period so that we maximize yield for every inch of water applied.
Data from the Sunbelt Ag Expo weather station from March 22-28, 2026 shows that ET ranged from 0.1 to 0.18 inches per day for a total of 1.05 inches.
Cotton burndown: Controlling wild radish in burndown applications has been the topic of the week. The most effective and economical choice for controlling primrose and radish is an application of 2,4-D alone or mixed with any Roundup mixture (such as Roundup + Valor) at least 30 days before planting. 2,4-D is more effective than dicamba on primrose, radish, and spiderwort; it is less effective on horseweed and peanut. For primrose, 2,4-D at 12 oz/A of a 3.8 lb/gal formulation mixed with Roundup is sufficient and would reduce the interval between application and planting non-Enlist cotton cultivars; however, rates of 1.0 to 1.5 pt/A are needed for wild radish. Dicamba will also control primrose when mixed with Roundup; dicamba is not very effective on wild radish.
What if I don’t want to put 2,4-D or dicamba in my sprayer? For radish of any size, Roundup mixtures with Harmony Extra are very effective. If you have full bloom radish, Roundup + Valor will provide 75-90% control. If you are close to planting, then paraquat plus diuron will give you excellent control.
What are my plant back restrictions when using Valor in cotton burndown?
- In strip-till cotton where the strip till rig (including ripper shank) is run after application and before planting, Valor plant-back intervals are as follows:
1) >30% ground cover = 7 days
2) 10–30% ground cover = 14 days plus 0.5″ rain/irrigation
3) <10% ground cover or tillage = 21 days plus 1″ rain/irrigation - In no-tillage production or when the strip is implemented prior to
application. Valor plant-back interval should be 28 days. Additionally,
0.5″ (>10% ground cover) or 1″ (<10% ground cover) rainfall/irrigation is
needed. If Reflex (or generic) will be applied PRE, suggest adding an
additional 7 days to planting intervals. - Add a nonionic surfactant or crop oil concentrate (preferred), regardless of
glyphosate brand.
Dr. Well’s new blog post Pecan Blog Update—Managing the Increase in Pecan Fertilizer Costs
Corn Variety Plots: Corn plots are always fun to do. We had a great opportunity to plant a UGA on‑farm corn variety trial at the Sunbelt Ag Expo in Moultrie this past week. Numerous county agents across the state are participating in this project. Many thanks to the industry partners and the Sunbelt Ag Expo.
Have a great week,
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