Research Update (February 13, 2015)

Diligence Technologies, Inc., West Tennessee

We would like to welcome Heath Scott to the Diligence Technologies family (shown above).  Look for Heath around the trials and plot tours this summer.

We would also like to thank Paul Kennedy and Ben Wiggins (Helena) for dropping by to tour the greenhouse facilities last week.

Upcoming Events

Gin Show (Feb. 27-28) - Look for us at the Gin Show in Memphis on Friday, Feb. 27.

West TN Sportsmen's Night (March 12, 5:00 p.m.) - For those of you who live around west Tennessee, let me invite you to the West TN Sportsmen's Night at Englewood Baptist Church in Jackson.  The event will include a wide variety of interactive events, seminars, and food for the outdoors enthusiast.  The featured speaker will be Jimmy Sites.

Cropping News

Greenhouse work continues through the winter months.  Right now we have trials running with such varied crops as tomato, soybean, and turf.  Our heating, lighting, and irrigation systems seem to performing well now that most of the "bugs" are out of the system.

Winter wheat progress remains slow but steady.  The cold weather we received right after wheat planting did not allow much wheat growth prior to winter.  Wheat continues to progress with a solid stand, but some warm weather and a little nitrogen will likely do it a world of good.

As usual, we do have extra wheat planted for those wishing to run fungicide trials in the spring.

With winter weeds spread across the fields, we are reminded that burndown trials will be coming up soon.  Please let us know if you have burndown trials that need a home this spring.

Pest News

Target spot (Corynesporna cassiicola) in cotton continues to make some news in west Tennessee.  A relatively new pest for this area (past couple of summers), target spot appears to have the potential for significant cotton damage.  The presence of only a few "spots" will often cause a cotton leaf to drop and substantial defoliation of the crop has been observed.  Some fungicides do appear effective on the disease, but exact rates and timings are still being studied.

Thrip resistance to some of the seed treatment insecticides in cotton has reached the point that only imidacloprid is being recommended for the coming season in Tennessee.  Testing is underway for alternative treatments and methods of cotton thrip control.

As always, we are thankful to all you who have sent us your business in the past and blessed to be able to serve you.  Let us know if there is anything we can do to help out in the coming season.

Proverbs 22:29
Seest thou a man diligent in his business?  He shall stand before kings…

Research Update (October 19, 2013)

Diligence Technologies, Inc., West Tennessee

Compared to the last few seasons, harvest is proceeding slowly in west Tennessee.  Recent cool and damp weather is keeping soybeans from drying down as rapidly as they should.  If fact, we saw soybean moistures rise in some cases this week as the beans absorbed moisture during an extended period of damp weather.  A little sun would go a long way towards getting our soybeans out of the field.

Speaking of sun, we could use a little on our cotton also.  We made our second defoliation applications late this week, and are hoping that will be enough (although I'm not quite sure yet).  Last season we had cotton that required three defoliation applications before harvest and we're hoping that does not become a trend.

We are finishing up our corn research now.  With the exception of a few "specialty" trials still in the field, corn harvest is complete.  We are in the process of crunching the numbers and getting out the reports on corn trials.

We planted our first wheat of the season last week and hope to plant more soon as the fields dry down from the recent showers.  We still have time to start wheat trials if you have any fall work to get done.

We are also preparing for winter weed controls trials.  We normally start spraying those in November.

Like many others in the area have discovered this season, we now have kudzu bugs.  While this is not exactly great news for soybean growers, we should be able to include this pest in our insecticide trials next season.

Thanks to those that have dropped by for a visit recently.  Always good to see our friends from Winfield Solutions, Helena, Adjuvants Unlimited, and Helm Agro.

As always, let us know if there is anything we do to help out.

Proverbs 22:29

Seest thou a man diligent in his business?  He shall stand before kings…