Specialists Give New Strength to Missouri Crops and Center
⋅ BY CASSIDY NEMEC ⋅
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Down in Portageville, Missouri, the Fisher Delta Research, Extension and Education Center sits perched on Upper Delta soils in the “bootheel” region of the southeastern part of the state.
The Station
The T.E. “Jake” Fisher Delta Research, Extension, and Education Center was established in 1959 in Portageville, Missouri, to provide research and educational programs unique to the Southeast Delta region of the state and to function as a center for university programs, educational meetings, workshops, short courses, 4-H training, FFA Days and Field Days.
The FD-REEC facilities include 1,119 acres of land at five locations representing the major soil types of the region. Research studies are designed to improve production of crops that are of major importance to the region, namely soybeans, cotton, rice, grain sorghum, wheat, peanuts and possible new crops that could economically benefit the area. The land which comprises the facilities was donated to the university by families who strongly believed in the land grant mission. In 2011, the center was renamed in honor of T.E. “Jake” Fisher, who had served as a superintendent and had been employed with the University of Missouri for more than 50 years.
As director of the research center, Aaron Brandt manages the center’s facilities, budget and resources to provide and promote an adequate agricultural research environment.
“We have six different research programs — Soil & Cropping Systems, Rice Agronomy, Crop Protection, Cotton Agronomy, Weed Science and Soybean Breeding — plus my operations team, which is basically support staff for our faculty and research functions,” Brandt said. “I am also the administrative link between our main campus in Columbia, Missouri, and the FD-REEC. I work in conjunction with other research and Extension directors across the state on various projects, including grant applications.”
The People
Four state Extension specialists who work in conjunction with Brandt, all new to the Center as of 2021-2023, form a group working to rejuvenate the FD-REEC.
Justin Calhoun is an assistant professor and soil and cropping systems state Extension specialist.
“My program aids other specialists like Justin Chlapecka and Bradley Wilson in conducting some research and Extension work (mainly fertility, tillage, weed control and rotation studies) in rice and cotton, respectively,” Calhoun said. “But we also do extensive pest management, fertility and basic agronomic work in crops that we do not have Extension representation for here in the Delta region of the state. This includes soybean, corn, peanut, grain sorghum, wheat and industrial hemp.”
Justin Chlapecka works as assistant professor and state rice Extension specialist. He conducts research on best management practices in rice production, including cultivar trials, fertility, weed control, seeding rate and other agronomic practices.
Chase Floyd is an assistant professor and state Extension crop protection specialist for Missouri, covering entomology and plant pathology focus areas. He said he is in a unique position in the Missouri Bootheel due to the responsibilities of entomological and pathological pest management of row crops.
“Essentially, I am running both an Extension entomology and pathology program,” he said. “Predominantly, my research focuses are in entomology due to my training as well as needs of the growers. Cotton and rice insects are where I spend a large amount of my research efforts.”
Bradley Wilson is an assistant professor and state cotton Extension specialist for the University of Missouri. “My main role is to provide timely and updated research information to producers in respect to variety selection, best management practices and updated technologies in cotton production,” he said. “I also have a role to establish relationships with cotton producers in Missouri and be available to answer calls and visit farms when the need arises.”
All of these specialists work as a unit year-round to maintain and improve the FD-REEC’s operations and research efforts.
Bootheel Cotton
Wilson said in addition to rebuilding the FD-REEC and bringing more faculty to the Bootheel, one of the other main challenges for cotton at the Center was learning how weather in the upper Mid-South — droughts, floods and early frosts included — could affect cotton production.
“I believe our achievement goes hand in hand with those challenges. Over the past three years, we have been able to build a robust variety trial program including small plot OVTs at four locations across the state and seven on-farm variety trials working with producers and consultants across the Bootheel region,” he said.
Cotton acres in the region tend to range from 315,000 acres to 335,000 acres each year. With great water sources, Wilson said irrigation is used on about 90% of planted acres, with dryland on the remainder of planted area. “It is also interesting that a dryland field in the area can produce similar or greater yields compared to irrigated production systems,” Wilson said.
Most of the cotton is generally planted during about a 15-day time span from May 1 to May 15. “We try to plant on-farm trials whenever the producer calls,” he said. “Following that, we can plant our research trials at the four farms available in between those times.”
After planting, the cotton team conducts research that includes herbicides, plant growth regulator management and best management practices. “During these times, we spend a lot of time spraying to manage weeds and insects across the four locations we have,” Wilson said. “At harvest, it is very similar to planting. We do our best to get cotton out of the field prior to rainfall, so it generally happens fast and never fails for the majority of the cotton to mature at the same time.”
Following harvest, Wilson and his team spend up to a month ginning cotton at the Center’s micro gin and send samples off to be classed for each trial harvested.
Major weed issues include Palmer amaranth and Italian ryegrass, while thrips and tarnished plant bugs pose a threat in the potential to delay the crop and reduce fruit production across the region. Diseases like target spot tend to show up later in the season when the plant has become large in stature and middles have lapped, Wilson said. “Reduced airflow through the canopy at this time increases our risk for target spot late season.”
Floyd confirmed the main insect issues in the region and his role in evaluating them. “Thrips, tarnished plant bugs and two-spotted spider mites are the main target in the Bootheel. We have over 30 trials targeting all aspects of these pests,” he said. “Insecticide efficacy, insecticide timing, threshold evaluation and system trials are all on the docket this year. Altogether, we are attempting to create management regimes that fit every Bootheel farm.”
More Trials
PGRs are widely used in the region and are something Wilson and his team are working with in some of their trials in evaluating timeliness and the effects on plant height and cotton yield. “We have a planting date trial that has been my favorite because it shows the effects of yield when planting cotton at early and late dates. It shows the importance of planting cotton on time when weather permits,” he said.
He emphasized the timing of those PGR applications is most critical. “The first application is generally around node six to eight,” Wilson said. “If we miss the early timing, it can become tough to ever slow the plant back down, especially if it is an aggressive variety.
“Depending on the variety planted, we generally are aggressive with our PGRs since keeping the plant shorter can reduce risk of diseases later in the growing season by keeping airflow moving through the canopy.”
Floyd said they amped up their focus on spider mites due to the area. “We are looking at not only miticide efficacy trials, but varietal preferences as well,” he said.
They are also looking into the role technology can play in application. “We are planning on conducting modified drop nozzle studies in cotton and looking at increases in pesticide efficacy when we are distributing our active ingredient from the ground upward instead of the traditional over-the-top application,” Floyd said.
“We want to see if droplet placement can increase efficacy of our cheaper products to potentially give more options in our insect management regimes. We also want to evaluate if miticide efficacy will increase by this application method without having to increase carrier volume of our traditional sprayers.”
Overall, Wilson said harvest is one of his favorite parts of his job as that is the time to reap the benefits of all the hard work from over the season and to understand another long season has come to an end.
“My most rewarding part of this position is I get to work with top notch producers who care about increasing cotton production practices and sustainability in Missouri,” he said. “We have a number of producers who are very progressive and constantly looking ahead to the future to increase profitability while keeping the farm sustainable.”
Seeing Change and Looking Ahead
In terms of progress, much has been made over the past few years at the FD-REEC. Chlapecka, as the first specialist to arrive at MU of the current group, said he’s witnessed a lot of change.
“I’ve gotten to see a huge positive transformation in the atmosphere, facilities and equipment. When I started here in August of 2021, there was only one professor other than myself. Today, there are five programs, and we are currently searching for a weed scientist that would make No. 6.
“The state legislature has been a huge supporter since my arrival, and the arrival of others, and we have been able to make some major upgrades to facilities including the main office. In addition, we have made a lot of equipment upgrades with that funding, which has allowed us to have modern equipment that was not here when I first started. So, I would say what started as major challenges have actually turned into achievements and things we can brag about as a research center.”
One of Brandt’s biggest achievements includes the planning and construction of the new Roy Blunt Soil Testing and Research Laboratory. He said this facility will provide over 6,000 square feet of research space for soil, water and plant tissue testing, as well as provide space for their crop protection and rice agronomy programs. “This is the largest new construction project for the center in a very long time,” Brandt said.
Calhoun shared his excitement for the project. “The soil testing lab has an extraordinary opportunity to impact agriculture in our part of the state. Currently, our ag community has to send soil, plant tissue and water samples off to labs hours away for analysis.
“My hope is that this lab will be able to serve our community for fast and reliable results. Rather than waiting even a couple of days for samples to arrive at a lab and be processed, I hope to be able to provide near same day results and information,” he said.
In the short-term, Brandt said his goals include finishing remodeling of existing facilities to meet current and future research needs.
“Long term, I want to ensure that the FD-REEC continues operating at a high standard and continue building upon its reputation,” he said. “We will need to be agile and adapt to the changing needs of our farmers and communities. I want the center to continue growing and be at the forefront of agricultural research and innovation.
“In the next five years, I am looking forward to seeing all of the progress made by the team here, through research advancements, graduate student enrollment and contributions to the success of our farmers. We all have a shared vision of growing this research facility into one of the premier research facilities in the country, and I am excited to play a small part in that.”
More information on the Fisher Delta Research, Extension and Education Center and other Missouri agricultural experiment stations can be found at https://moaes.missouri.edu/.