Research Update (April 1, 2024)

 

Research Update (April 1, 2024)

 

Diligence Technologies Inc., West Tennessee

EVENTS FROM THE PAST MONTH:

Ready or not, the season is upon us.  We spent the past month easing back out into the field as weather allowed.  Wheat is being sprayed, burndown trials are going out, and preparations for corn planting are underway.  Things should get real busy over the next month.

 

CROPPING SEASONS:

Wheat trials are marked out in preparation for fungicide trials later this month.  Some burndown trials have been sprayed with others going out in the near future.

Row crop planting season is upon us as we have the second week of April targeted to begin corn planting.  Later in April we hope to be establishing several weed trials before moving on to cotton in early May.

 

GREENHOUSE ACTIVITIES:

The greenhouse is still surprisingly busy as we enter what is normally the last month of greenhouse season.  We have a few more soybean, cotton, and vegetable trials to wrap up before we shut the greenhouse down for the season and move back to spending all our time in the field.  Many thanks to all that brought us greenhouse trials over the winter.  We are very grateful to be able to stay busy through the cold months.

 

WEATHER INFO:

The weather has been quite nice so far this spring.  We have had several warm days scattered in among the normal cool spells.  Rain has been fairly consistent so far and we are entering planting season with good soil moisture.  Now we just hope the trend will hold as we start to put seed in the ground.

 

PEST INFO:

With the warm weather, we are beginning to see some summer annuals in the fields a bit earlier than normal.  Otherwise, we still have a collection of winter annuals until we get them all burned down.  Aphid pressure in wheat has been light this year and we have not had much to talk about on the insect front for a while.

We are looking forward to another safe and productive research season.  Let us know how we can be of service to you in the coming year.

Tim, Jake, Will, & Jim

 

Proverbs 12:24

The hand of the diligent shall bear rule, but the slothful shall be put to forced labor.

 

Research Update (March 4, 2024)

 Research Update (March 4, 2024)

 

Diligence Technologies Inc., West Tennessee

EVENTS FROM THE PAST MONTH:

We spent the last month pretty close to home.  Winter meeting season was winding down as we made our way to the West Tennessee Grain Conference, Cotton Focus, and the Gin Show.  Nice to have meetings that allow you to see your friends but still spend the night in your own bed.  Now is when we shift our focus back to the field and start making plans for the upcoming year.

 

CROPPING SEASONS:

We are beginning the 2024 field season by doing a little work in wheat.  Wheat herbicide work was started during one of the warm stretches we have had recently.  We have also begun to apply fertilizer and locate spots for fungicide trials this spring.  If you have any wheat fungicide work still on the list, let us know. We still have wheat available that can be converted to plots.  Our most common wheat foliar fungicide trials deal with Septoria leaf spot and head scab.

 

GREENHOUSE ACTIVITIES:

The greenhouse is still very active with a few more trials to start before the season ends.  Consider this to be “last call” for greenhouse work this spring as we begin to transition to the field.  However, we will be glad to slide in a late winter trial if you have the need.

 

WEATHER INFO:

We can’t tell if it is summer or winter.  We have been blessed with some excellent days where we were looking for an excuse to get outside.  In contrast, we are still getting cold, windy days where we just want to hide in the greenhouse.  Such is the joy of spring in the south.  At least we have been getting rainfall this spring which should help when it comes time to plant.

 

PEST INFO:

Things are quiet on the pest front right now (as would be expected in early March).  However, we have been scouting for good burndown spots and the normal collection of winter annuals seems to be present.  Let us know if you have a burndown protocol that needs a home.

 

As we move into the 2024 field season, we look forward to working with each of you again this year.  A little break in winter is not a bad thing, but it does not take long to start missing being outside and working in the fields.  If we can help with your research program this season, please let us know.  That’s what we’re here for.

 

Tim, John Louis, Jake, Will, & Jim

 

Proverbs 10:4

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

Research Update (February 5, 2023)

 Research Update (February 5, 2023)

 

Diligence Technologies Inc., West Tennessee

 

SPECIAL NOTE:

If you have not updated our email address in your contacts, please do so.  Our new email address is:

Tim.Diligence@outlook.com

As of February 7, 2023, our old email address (timadcock@charter.net) will no longer be available.

 

EVENTS FROM THE PAST MONTH:

Our meeting season got off to a good start with our friends at the NCWSS meeting in Minneapolis.  We hit a snag in January as bad weather forced us to miss the annual NAICC meeting.  Many thanks to those we were scheduled to visit with at this meeting for their understanding.  We still managed to pull off several phone calls and Zoom meetings to keep the work moving forward.  We did manage to make it to San Antonio the next week for the SWSS/WSSA joint meeting and had our usually great time catching up with old friends.

On a more local level, we got to visit with the “home folks” at the West TN Grain Conference in Dyersburg on February 1.  Always good to find out what our neighbors have been up to over the past year.

 

UPCOMING EVENTS:

We have a few more Tennessee events left on the schedule:

Cotton Focus, Jackson, TN, Feb. 7

Gin Show, Memphis, TN, Mar. 1-2

We would enjoy seeing you if you happen to be around for either of these.  Just let us know.

 

CROPPING SEASONS:

We are officially in the slowest part of our field season right now.  Wheat trials established this past fall are put to bed till things start to warm up in late February or March.  Burndown trials and wheat fungicide trials are at least a month out at this point.

Now is a great time to start making arrangements for any wheat fungicide or burndown trials that you might be considering for this spring.  We have extra wheat available, and we can normally count on an abundance of burndown weeds in the spring.

 

GREENHOUSE ACTIVITIES:

Greenhouse activity has been steady since we started operations in November.  As is normally the case, we are conducting a wide variety of trials.  There are many different crops, pests, and trial types represented.  If you are in the area, drop by for a quick tour and let us show you what we can do.

The greenhouse will be open for at least three more months this season, so there is still time to get your winter projects underway.  We would be glad to discuss any ideas you have.

 

WEATHER INFO:

Our winter was pretty mild until it wasn’t.  Like much of the country, we had about a week and a half of snow, ice, and very low temperatures (below 0 is cold for us) in mid-January.  Things have since normalized a bit and our wheat trials appear to have survived without much damage.  Several rains in late January have left things a bit messy for now.  While there is still plenty of winter left in the year, maybe the worst is behind us.

 

As we begin to plan for another season, we are looking forward to working with each of you in the coming year.  Please let us know how we can contribute to your research efforts.

Tim, John Louis, Jake, Will, & Jim

 

Proverbs 27:23-24

Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds; for riches are not forever.

 

Research Update (April 3, 2023)

Research Update (April 3, 2023)

Diligence Technologies Inc., West Tennessee

EVENTS FROM THE PAST MONTH:

Spring must be here for real.  Meeting season is past, wheat is growing, and burndown trials are being sprayed.  We even managed to plant the first soybeans of the year last week.  As we get deeper into the month of April, we hope to plant our yielded corn trials and get the year going in earnest.  Mostly, it just feels good to be back in the field.

 

CROPPING SEASONS:

If the weather allows, we hope to start marking out yielded corn trials this week and beginning the majority of our corn planting the second week of April.  From there we will roll into cotton planting as the weather warms up.

We are currently spraying burndown trials as weeds (largely ryegrass and horseweed) reach the desired growth stages.  We still have a few burndown sites available if you need to slide something in at the last minute.

Wheat growth is accelerating as we have more warm days and it will not be long before we will be preparing for flag leaf and heading fungicide applications.  We did have some freezing weather within the last few weeks, but our wheat was small enough that it appears to have escaped any damage.

 

GREENHOUSE ACTIVITIES:

Greenhouse activity is beginning to slow as we finish off trials started over the winter.  We still have a few more sprays to make and ratings to take, but we should have most things wrapped up by the end of the month.  Many thanks to all those that sent greenhouse trials our way to help keep us going through the cold months.

 

WEATHER INFO:

The rain has been fairly consistent, and the temperatures have been quite variable.  For several weeks now we have been getting a day or two of rain each week.  While we will be begging for that in July, it has made it difficult to conduct pre-season spraying and tillage operations.  As usual, it will be a bit of a scramble to get all the fields in shape prior to planting.  We have had several warm and sunny days along with several others where we needed to dig out the coats.  If history is a good teacher, April will be just as variable on the temperature side.

 

PEST INFO:

The usual suspects are in the field for burndown trials (horseweed, ryegrass, chickweed, poa, etc.) right now.  Horseweed emergence appeared to be on the late side this spring but the populations were strong when they showed up.  Aphids have been light in our wheat plots so far.  Most other things will not get fired up until we get a little deeper into the season.

 

We want to welcome William McGuire to the family.  Will is a recent graduate of the University of Tennessee at Martin and joined us earlier in the month.  Please make sure to meet him on your visits to the farm this season.

Many thanks to those who have sent us protocols for the upcoming season.  If you still have trials to place or have something pop up at the last minute, please let us know.  We will be glad to help.

Tim, John Louis, Jake, Will, & Jim

 

Proverbs 12:27

… the substance of the diligent man is precious.