Tours And Trade Show Will Highlight Milan No-Till Event Scheduled For July 26
Every other year the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture hosts the largest conservation tillage event in the nation, the Milan No-Till Crop Production Field Day. 2012 is the year for the 27th No-Till Field Day. It will be conducted at the UT Ag Research and Education Center at Milan on Thursday, July 26.
Event registration begins at 6 a.m. with research tours starting at 7 a.m. The program has been expanded to now include 17 research tours that focus on important agricultural issues such as weed control, seed treatments, precision agriculture and irrigation, as well as specific tours for each of the major row crops that are grown in Tennessee.
Also included in the tours are the popular crop variety demonstrations and a back to the basics presentation for first-time no-tillers, which will cover key concepts like residue management, planter setup and pest management.
“The Milan No-Till Field Day features some of the brightest minds in agricultural research,” says Dr. Blake Brown, director of the UT Ag Research and Education Center at Milan. “We think producers can greatly benefit from the research findings that will be presented on these tours, whether it be through increasing production, reducing expenses or improving marketing skills.”
The final tours of the day will begin at 1 p.m. Most tours may be completed in one hour and 30 minutes, so attendees should arrive early if they want to participate in multiple tours. Between tours, guests are encouraged to visit the extensive industry/educational trade show or cool off by exploring the West Tennessee Agricultural Museum.
For more information, contact the Research and Education Center at Milan at (731) 686-7362 or send an email to recatmilan@utk.edu.
EWR Develops Smartphone Application For Delivering Modules To Gins
EWR, Inc., has developed MyModules, which is EWR’s first commercial smartphone application offered to cotton producers. MyModules allows a producer to transmit information to his gin – via his smartphone – indicating that a new cotton module has been created and is in the field awaiting pickup.
The information transmitted includes (optionally) the module’s geographic location – latitude and longitude – along with any identifying codes. Since MyModules was developed by EWR, Inc., it is integrated with and works well with EWR’s eCotton-brand gin software in use at nearly 400 gins and with EWR’s Cotton Host Web site used by cotton gins and producers. MyModules is available for both Android and iPhones. The app is downloaded from the appropriate app store.
Once downloaded to the phone, the initial setup is easy. The producer using the app must enter data on at least one gin and one producer. The data is then stored in MyModules for future reference. To set up a gin, the producer must enter the name of the gin, the gin’s identification code (assigned by EWR) and the gin’s method of identifying modules. At least one gin must be set up in MyModules in order for the app to function. However, multiple gins may be set up. Likewise, multiple producers may be set up for each gin, but only a single producer per gin is required.
This technology offers producers a tool to save time while having fast access to vital data. It uses the latest information to reduce the workload at the gin while enabling the ginner to provide better service to his customer.
For additional information, visit www.ecotton.com.
EPA Grants Exemption For Dow Insecticide
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has granted an emergency use exemption for Transform WG insecticide. Dow AgroSciences announced that the Section 18 label – upon the request of each state – was granted for certain counties in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee for the control of tarnished plant bugs in cotton.
Transform is a fast-acting insecticide from a proprietary, new class of chemistry that controls tarnished plant bugs. Sulfoxaflor, the active ingredient, provides producers with a new resistance management tool.
According to company officials, the insecticide controls tarnished plant bugs at a very low use rate while maintaining most beneficial insects and not flaring aphids or mites. Transform can be applied by either air or ground.