Peanuts: More and more peanuts are being dug as we have finally gotten some sunshine and cooperative weather. So far, so good on what I’ve seen and heard on the peanut crop. The Georgia Peanut Tour came through Tift County on Wednesday. Regan and I set up some local visits so they could see peanuts being dug and picked. There were about 200 folks from all across the United States and across the world who showed up for the tour. I talked to a guy from Sudan who told me that in many areas of Sudan, they still dig and pick peanuts by hand. He said one person could dig and pick 1 acre of peanuts in 3 days.

Cotton: It will be a sea of white in a few weeks. A fair amount of cotton has been defoliated this week, and I know of several fields that will be over the weekend and on into next week. Boll Rot is still the first question I get asked, and while it is bad this year, there are a few fields where it isn’t that bad. I hope the sunshine holds up.

Pecans: The rain over the last month has kept aphid and mite pressure relatively low. Now that we have clear weather in the forecast for the next 10 days, it is possible these pests could flare up again, but this close to the end of the season, is it worth spraying? First of all, it’s too late to worry about these pests on Pawnee, so just get ready to harvest this cultivar, and don’t worry about the bugs. On later cultivars which have yet to split open, if you have had weevil or stink bug problems in the past, you should probably still spray them at this point. Most weevil/stink bug materials have a 14-21 day pre-harvest interval. You can add a material for aphids and mites to prevent flare-ups but keep in mind the pre-harvest intervals of these materials as well. Most aphicides have a 7-14 day PHI. The exception to this is Carbine, which has a 40-day PHI. So, if you apply an aphicide, it is too late to use Carbine. Regarding miticides, Abamectin has a 21-day PHI. Nexter has a 7-day PHI and will work on both aphids and mites. I would continue to monitor black aphids this week, and if any nymphs are observed, it may be wise to spray. Following this week, I would not worry too much about them.

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