Nematode Control

Yield, Quality And Traits The menu of cotton varieties from which to choose in 2018 includes a host of high-yielding, good quality selections. To help you get started, seed companies from across the Cotton Belt provided information about their headliners on...

Thriving In Cotton Series Kicks Off In November Are resistant weeds a problem on your farm? Is bacterial blight or nematodes keeping you from reaching top yields? To help cotton farmers make next season their best yet, PhytoGen is sponsoring...

By Carroll Smith Editor The bulk of the cotton acres in Tennessee fall within Tipton, Fayette, Madison, Hardiman, Haywood, Crockett and Lauderdale counties. Dow AgroSciences and PhytoGen experts recently held a reporter field day just inside Haywood County to share their...

Alabama Farmer Anticipates 69th Crop By Carroll Smith Editor When referencing events that happened almost a century ago, most people preface their anecdotes with, “I have a photograph.” Otis Shiver begins his stories with, “I remember….” This 93-year-old cotton farmer was born...

Delivered As Promised The menu of cotton varieties from which to choose in 2017 includes a host of high-yielding, good quality selections. To help you get started, seed companies from across the Cotton Belt provided information about their headliners on...

Cotton producers in West Texas got a sneak peak at up to a dozen potential new varietal releases during Deltapine's annual field day at Blaine Nichols Farm near Seminole. Nichols and his father, Mark, are two of about 200 producers nationwide that participate in Deltapine's NPE, or New Product Evaluators, program. For the past 10 years or so, the Nichols have planted advanced experimental lines in large 3- to 5-acre plots. They farm the plots as they would their commercial acreage, with each plot being harvested, graded and milled separately. Come December or January when the data on the experimental varieties has been disseminated, NPE producers participate in a conference call to vote on the varieties they think should be released. Between the experimental and commercial varieties, the Nichols have about 20 Deltapine large-scale plots on their farm this season. Mark says they continue to participate because of the benefits the NPE trials provide the industry. Blaine says he's anxious to see how the new XtendFlex system will work once the low-volatility formulation of dicamba is registered. The varieties have been engineered to contain genes that impart resistance to both glyphosate and dicamba herbicides sprayed over the top. Although the Nichols have several XtendFlex varieties on their farm, the plants were only sprayed over the top with Roundup. Blaine stays on top of weeds using the Roundup Ready system as well as several different residual herbicides. He also has adopted a zero-tolerance approach to weeds, but he says controlling Palmer amaranth and Russian thistle as well as a host of others is a constant challenge.

Protect yield and quality from cotton insect pests. By Carroll Smith Editor The boll weevil was a legendary cotton pest that tortured farmers for years. “Wanted” posters featuring the insect’s “mug shot” adorned the walls of many farm offices in South...

Varieties Evaluated For Root-Knot Nematode Resistance The Deltapine New Product Evaluator Program is kicking off its ninth season this spring with nearly 200 growers evaluating seven new Bollgard II XtendFlex cotton variety candidates for the Class of 17. Three of those...

Six years after production was discontinued in the United States, aldicarb is making a comeback. Production of the farm chemical aldicarb, formerly sold under the trade name Temik, was discontinued in 2010 and has gradually disappeared from the market. A new product, AgLogic 15G Aldicarb Pesticide, is making an initial run in Georgia this season. It is expected to be released in other cotton-producing states in 2017 and 2018. Jeremy Greene, entomologist at the Clemson Edisto Research and Educational Center, says the U.S. cotton crop has suffered with declining availability of aldicarb. Temik was a valued part of many growers’ integrated pest management programs for control of early season insect pests and nematodes. There is little to no Temik 15G available for purchase today. “Control of thrips and nematodes has been challenging since the availability of aldicarb, or Temik 15G, has diminished,” Greene says. “Temik 15G was on the market for about 40 years and was used on a significant number of cotton acres for control of thrips and nematodes. Aldicarb was very effective.” Since Temik essentially was taken off the market when the registrant stopped production, cotton growers have been using neonicotinoid seed treatments.

It’s The Time Of The Season Late fall, early winter is the time of the season for slowing down a bit after a hectic harvest and contemplating which varieties will have the best fit in your operation in the upcoming...

The ABCs of variety selection may start with letters behind a variety name denoting insect resistance or herbicide tolerance technology, but they certainly do not end there. Beyond the letters are complex characteristics controlled by multiple genes – yield, fiber quality, stress response, disease resistance, plant type and relative maturity. “A” stands for area-appropriate. Consider performance data generated from the same area as your farm. Know specific field production constraints and choose varieties with appropriate disease resistance, nematode tolerance and moisture stress response. “B” is for broadening risk with more than one variety in more than one maturity class so harvest on large farms can be staggered. Broadened risk improves the odds of catching beneficial rains and avoiding widespread hail damage. “C” is for control. Stay grounded with input capabilities. Highhorsepower varieties in low-input situations can lead to quality problems. “Control” reminds me of the first cotton farmer to ask my advice on variety selection – my father, who passed away in May. Professional presentation of yield data did not impress him. He told me, “I can make these varieties yield. Show me something with the potential for good fiber quality. I have less control over that.”

Nematodes – those microscopic pests that attack a plant's roots and adversely affect cotton yields – can cause enough headaches for a farmer to last a lifetime. Whether it's reniform or root-knot, this pest can often go undetected...

Mike Milam MISSOURI milammr@missouri.edu PLANTING IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER Although last year had a slow start and we had problems with too much rainfall at mid-season, we did finish strong with an excellent boll opening and harvest season. This winter has been...

Encouraged By Mississippi’s Cotton Acreage Outlook In 2014 By Tommy Horton Editor If you’re a cotton producer in Mississippi or other parts of the Mid-South, you’re feeling cautiously optimistic about the 2014 season. In fact, you might say that there is a...

The NCC Planting Intentions Survey shows less than a one percent increase in acreage for Missouri. Based on past reports, this may or may not happen with a lot depending on the weather. In the past, I have noticed that the Missouri intentions are usually overestimated.