Macon County Ag News

The University of Georgia and other parties have put an abundance of time, money and resources into the UGA Weather Network. Here you can find all sorts of great weather information and the optimal time to plant your crops.

I hope everyone is doing well. In light of Macon County moving to a shelter-in-place, the Macon County Extension/4-H office will be closed from 3/27/20 to 4/7/20. We are still taking calls, collecting samples and conducting field visits.

Below is an update from our Weed Specialist, Dr. Eric Prostko: Palmer amaranth has already emerged in the field (Figure 1).  Consequently, strip-tillage peanut growers who are applying burndown herbicides (Roundup, Gramoxone, 2,4-D) now should seriously consider including a residual herbicide with the burndown.  I would suggest either Valor SX…
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Please see below for an update on peanut seed quality from our Extension Peanut Agronomist, Dr. Scott Monfort:

Seed Options

• Growers should ask what the Germination % is on every lot they purchase.
• If you purchase seed, it should be 75% germination or above.
  • You could send sample to get germination % from Department of Agriculture if you have time before planting
• Farmer saved seed may be in any range.  
  • Please make sure to take a sample and submit to the department of Agriculture to determine germination % before you plant. 
• You might want to treat with Rancona seed treatment to reduce issues with aspergillus flavus and niger.

Temporary Courthouse and County Office Operations:

In the interest of safeguarding the public and County personnel and in light of the current Public Health Sate of Emergency declared by Governor Brian Kemp, the Macon County Board of Commissioners are issuing an edict to limit general public access to the courthouse and all County offices.

I hope everyone is staying safe in the wake of the covid-19 outbreak. The UGA Campus is closed but we are still open for normal business. We have been told to follow the direction of our local county government, so we will remain open until they tell us differently.

With all of the rain we received last week, it is nice to finally see sunshine our forecast for Macon County. Now is the time of year to get your planting equipment in working order and ready to plant corn. The past few weeks of endless rainfall have put us all behind schedule, but there is still time to get your crop planted and expect a prosperous yield.