Research Update (November 6, 2017)

Diligence Technologies Inc., West Tennessee

EVENTS FROM THE PAST MONTH:

The summer tour season is about over as we have less and less to look at in the field.  Thanks so much to all our friends that dropped by for a visit this summer.  We enjoy the chance to see everyone and show you through the plots.  Come back anytime.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

I look forward to catching up with many of you at the North Central Weed Science Society meeting in St. Louis on December 4-7.  Let me know if you are planning to attend.  I would enjoy the opportunity to visit.

 

CROPPING SEASONS:

This field season is winding down rapidly.  All the corn data has been sent.  Cotton ginning has started and soybean trials are being harvested between rain showers.

All the winter wheat trials are in the ground (and most are up and growing).  We have had enough moisture and warm weather to get wheat off to a good start.  In addition to the wheat plots we currently have going, we have planted some large blocks of wheat that can be turned into postemergence trials next spring.

Winter annual weeds seem to be off to an early start, and we have late fall applications going out in the near future.  We should have some good populations for testing this winter and next spring if you have the need.

GREENHOUSE ACTIVITIES:

The greenhouse is back and better than ever.  Some of you may have been aware that a hail storm last winter left the greenhouse in need of repair.  However, our highly skilled group of greenhouse technicians (Jesse, Kevin, and Jackson) replaced the back wall and the roof.  We are looking forward to another season of having a warm place to hide when it gets cold outside.

If you are looking for a place to generate some data over the winter, our heated and lighted greenhouse may be just what you are looking for.  Let us know if we can be of service.

 

WEATHER INFO:

Fall temperatures have finally came our way over the past few weeks.  We have had several cool days mixed in with some very pleasant ones.

We have been getting just enough rainfall to slow down our harvesting a bit.  While few of the showers have produced large amounts of rain, the frequent, small showers have kept things just wet enough to keep us out of the field.  A few more dry days and we should be able to wrap up soybean harvest.

PEST INFO:

As mentioned above, our winter annual weeds (henbit, chickweed, cutleaf eveningprimrose) seem to be off to a good start.  We also seem to be getting some horseweed in the mix.  It should be a good season for winter and spring burndown trials.

On a less pleasant note, this past season gave us some soybeans plots with lowest frogeye leaf spot pressure we have seen in disease trials.  While we had a few trials that worked out well, we had several trials that did not get nearly the pressure we have observed over the years.  I am sure the farmers in the area were pleased, but it makes it tough when you are trying to evaluate fungicides.  We trust that this was an unpleasant anomaly and we will be back to normal in the coming year.

Proverbs 21:5
The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness.

 

 

 

 

 

Research Update (July 15, 2017)

Diligence Technologies Inc., West Tennessee

EVENTS FROM THE PAST MONTH:

We have spent a good portion of the past couple of months trying to catch up on trial establishment.  Frequent showers meant that we had few full weeks to get things done, so we have been working where and when we can.  As a result, trial establishment was farther behind than in any year in recent memory.  Several trials had to replanted due to excessive moisture with a few even requiring three or four attempts before we finally got a good stand.  As always, the crew (Jesse, Kevin, and Jackson) did a heroic job of making sure everything got done.

 

CROPPING SEASONS:

Wheat is almost over for this season.  We are finishing up post-harvest data collection (seed weights, etc.) at present.  Disease pressure was pretty good in the fungicide trials and you could see the benefits of a well-timed foliar application.

We have corn trials at almost every imaginable growth stage.  Planting dates on yielded trials range anywhere from mid-April to mid-May.  Our later trials (generally fungicide trials planted intentionally late to increase disease pressure) are just beginning to enter the reproductive phase and corn fungicide applications will begin in mass next week.

Applications will also begin soon in soybean fungicide trials.  Applications at R1 will likely be next week with R3 applications a couple of weeks later.

Cotton trials began the year very slowly.  With excessive moisture and reduced amounts of heat and sunshine, the cotton struggled to get a good start.  Stands were sometimes thin and the crop in general was less than impressive.  The good news is that growth has improved substantially with the increased heat and sunshine over the past month.  It is finally time to break out the growth regulator and try to slow things down just a bit.

 

GREENHOUSE ACTIVITIES:

The greenhouse is officially closed for the summer which is a good thing.  The greenhouse is heated which makes it a great place to work during the winter.  However, the cooling fans can only do so much in summer and it is difficult to find volunteers to go in there in July.

Keep us in mind for your greenhouse needs later this fall.  We should have it back in operation in October.

TOURS:

Thanks to everyone who has stopped by for a visit so far this spring.  However, with trial establishment slower than normal, much of the prime viewing time for plots is still to come.  Several tours have been rescheduled for a little later in the season.  As always, just let us know when you will be in the area.  We always enjoy getting to spend time with friends.

PEST INFO:

Preemergence weed control has been generally good this spring as frequent showers allowed for herbicide activation in the soil.  Postemergence herbicide injury has been above normal as crops had little opportunity to “harden off” during the early spring.  Even our normal maintenance applications tended to show burn on the foliage.  Probably not a significant issue, but it does not help make the plots look good.

Disease activity is still pretty low right now in the fungicide trials.  It usually takes a while for grey leaf spot in corn and frogeye leaf spot in soybeans to build and the crops are still relatively young.  For those wanting to look at fungicide trials, late August has traditionally been a good time for viewing.

Insect pressure has been fairly light this year with the exception of thrips on cotton.  However, we generally have some excellent opportunities to test insecticides on late-planted soybeans.  Let us know if you need a late bug trial and we will work something out.

 

We are very thankful to those who have sent trials our way so far this season.  We still have some ground available for an evaluation late this summer or early fall.  I tell folks all the time that it is a rare September that we do not plant a few corn or soybean trials.  Just let us know how we can be of service.

Proverbs 12:27

… the substance of the diligent man is precious.

 

Research Update (October 28, 2015)

Diligence Technologies, Inc., West Tennessee

Greenhouse

As we bring much of the field work for the year to a close, we are again setting up to do greenhouse research trials this winter.  Please let us know if we can help you keep your research program going through the colder months.

Crop Reports

Harvest season is bring much of our field work to an end at this time.  We still have a few scattered late trials to harvest and several of the post-harvest jobs to complete (cotton ginning, grain moistures and test weights, etc.).  That said, those still looking for yield data should be seeing it soon.  A very dry October (until the past weekend) has harvest progressing well and we hope to finish on the early side this year (closer to Halloween than Thanksgiving).

The rain this past weekend did have the benefit of helping get our wheat trials out of the ground.  However, we still have some time left in our wheat planting window if there are any trials that still do not have a home.  We have also planted some wheat designated for fungicide trials next spring.  Keep us in mind as you plan for those over the winter.

We are also working on fall burndown trials.  The recent rain should help promote the emergence of henbit and other winter annuals.  We have at least another month to establish fall burndown trials if you have the need.

Pest Information

In our soybean fungicide trials this year, we noted a substantial increase in frogeye leaf spot infestations resistant to the strobilurin fungicides.  Partial resistance was confirmed last season, however, the strobilurin fungicides were still providing a significant level of disease control.  This season appears to be the first year where the resistant strain of frogeye leaf spot was our primary foliar disease.  Resistance has been confirmed in Tennessee for quite a while, but it is just now becoming dominant in our part of the state.

In our insecticide trials this season, we noted a marked increase in the kudzu bug populations.  Kudzu bugs were first seen in our plots about two years ago, but this is the first season where we have observed them at significantly damaging population levels.

As always, thanks to those who have dropped by to visit over the past summer.  We look forward to having you back next season.

Proverbs 10:4
He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand, but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.

Research Update (December 12, 2013)

Diligence Technologies, Inc., West Tennessee

One more season is almost in the books.  With a few exceptions (such as the wheat, follow-crop, and weed control trials we have scheduled to run through the winter), all the trials are out of the field and the reports have been sent to their rightful owners.

In general, 2013 was wet, cool, and late.  Planting was delayed in many cases (we almost seem to have lost the month of May) due to frequent rains.  Much of the cotton that we did manage to plant had to be replanted (sometimes more than once).  The summer was generally mild (which was good for the corn, soybeans, and researchers), but the cotton could have used a few more heat units to push it along (particularly the later planted cotton).  Corn, soybeans, and early-planted cotton (that lived) all yielded very well.  Our biggest issues at the end of the season were getting the beans to dry down and getting the late-planted cotton open and defoliated before frost.  Quite a change from 2012 when the finished the season about a month and a half earlier.

We have put our wheat to bed for the winter and don't anticipate much activity there until early spring.  As usual, we have planted extra wheat for those fungicide trials we don't know about yet.  Let us know if you have some of those in hand.  We have also started marking out areas for early burndown trials next spring so let us know if we need to save you a nice, weedy spot.

Weed pressure this past season was dominated by resistant pigweeds (no big surprise there).  While we had plenty of moisture to activate herbicides, the frequent rains shortened the residual of our soil products substantially.  Insect pressure from some of our more consistent pests (stink bugs, plant bugs, soybean loopers) was pretty light this season.  The pests were there, but the populations did not build as I have seen them in some years.  The one big exception was thrip pressure in cotton.  We had more early thrips this past season than I can ever remember.  One new arrival this year was kudzu bug.  We had the "honor" of making the first "official" find of kudzu bugs in Shelby county this past season.  While the kudzu bug populations were pretty light this year, I am told by other researchers that we should have plenty to test on next year.  Disease pressure was fairly typical.  Both corn and soybean diseases were a bit late this year (you would think they would have come sooner with all the rain), but we had plenty of pressure in the end to get some good ratings.

Meeting season is just around the corner.  Our January calendar looks like this:

Beltwide Cotton Conference (Jan. 6-8, New Orleans, LA)
Conservation Systems Cotton and Rice Conference (Jan. 15-16, Tunica, MS)
Southern Weed Science Society (Jan. 27-29, Birmingham, AL)
National Association of Independent Crop Consultants (Jan. 29-Feb.1, New Orleans, LA)

Please let us know if you plan to make any of these meetings.  I would love to have the chance to catch up with our old friends.

Allow me to take this opportunity to thank those of you that let us be a part of your research program this past season.  We were truly blessed.

Proverbs 10:4

He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand, but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.

Research Update (August 10, 2013)

Diligence Technologies Inc., West Tennessee

Overall, the weather continues to be wet and cool for early August.  While that sure makes life easier for those doing research, we could probably use a bit more heat to move our cotton crop along.  Considering that we were late in getting the cotton crop planted and the slow progress we have seen since then, this would not be the year for an early frost.  On the positive side, the corn and soybean plots are in great shape with plenty of moisture since planting.

Grey leaf spot pressure in corn continues to intensify and we should be able to get some excellent ratings in the coming weeks.  While we have had some "low level" frogeye leaf spot pressure for a while, the disease has really taken off over the past week and we appear to be in good shape for soybean fungicide evaluations.

Since the frequent rains this spring and summer have significantly reduced the residual of our soil-applied herbicides, hoeing pigweeds has become a frequent pastime this season.  I can assure you the crew will be happy to get that part of the season behind them.

We have had a lot of visitors over the last couple of weeks including MANA, Valent, Brandt, the University of Tennessee, SePro, FMC, Americot, and Syngenta.  Some days we feel like we are running a guide service, but I will admit that it gives me the chance to catch up with a lot of friends that I don't get see often enough.

This past week was the last one for Zac Carpenter.  Zac is an agronomy student at Mississippi State University and has helped us out over the past three summers.  While we are sad to see him done for the summer, we wish him the best in his studies.  I guess Jeff, Jesse, and Kevin will have to pick up the slack.

Cotton defoliation season is closer than it seems, so let us know if you have defoliation protocols that need a home.

Proverbs 12:27

… the substance of the diligent man is precious.

Research Update (July 20, 2013)

Diligence Technologies, Inc., West Tennessee

There has been plenty going on in our part of the world over the past week or so.  Peter Eure, a graduate student from the University of Georgia, spent the past week with us as part of the SWSS program which provides the opportunity for students to spend time visiting researchers to see how things are done in other places.  Now that Pete knows all our secrets, we are fairly sure that research efficiency in south Georgia will drop by at least 50%.  However, we really enjoyed his visit and welcome him back any time.

This past Thursday (July 18) was the date for the Agricenter International Field Day.  As always, Bruce Kirksey and his crew did an excellent job.  Thanks to FMC, Americot, and Valent for allowing Diligence Technologies to assist in setting up their tour stops.

We also enjoyed visits from MANA and Cotton Incorporated this week.  Always good to catch up with old friends.

With everything going on, it might be surprising that we have actually done a little plot work over the past couple of weeks.  All the VT/R1 corn fungicide applications have been made at the Jackson location.  Grey leaf spot is already present on the lower leaves and working its way up the stalk.  We expect to start getting some decent ear leaf ratings in the next week or two.

Also, the R1/R2 fungicide applications in soybeans have been made.  Frogeye leaf spot is still pretty light at this point, but in most years things start to pick up in late July and early August.

We continue to be blessed with the occasional rain shower.  We got 1.8 inches in Memphis late last Thursday which means we probably will not have to stretch poly-pipe next week.  The Jackson location missed that one, but has had enough showers through the summer that the crops are still in good shape.

Hope your summer is going well and drop by to see us when you get the chance.

Proverbs 10:4

He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand, but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.