Research Update (March 3, 2025)

 

Research Update (March 3, 2025)

 

Diligence Technologies Inc., West Tennessee

EVENTS FROM THE PAST MONTH:

It was great to catch up with some of our friends from west Tennessee at the West Tennessee Grain Conference, Cotton Focus, and the Mid-south Farm and Gin Show.  These events tend to draw folks from our local area and are a great opportunity to discuss what might be on the horizon for the coming season.

Hopefully, we will be off the road for a while as we turn our attention to wheat, burndown trials, and spring planting in March.

 

CROPPING SEASONS:

Things in the field are still slow as we continue to wait for signs of spring weather.  It should not be long before we are doing wheat maintenance and spraying burndown trials.  Let us know if you have trials we can slide into this March window before we begin spring planting in April.

 

GREENHOUSE ACTIVITIES:

We continue to initiate new greenhouse trials in crops such as corn, cotton, hops, mint, and rice.  We still have time to slide in some late trials before we get fully involved in planting this spring.  Let us know if you have something in mind.

Also be aware that we have corn, cotton, soybean, and several weed species growing in the greenhouse continuously throughout the winter.  If you need a postemergence evaluation on any of these, there is a good chance we can initiate the trial in short order.

 

UPCOMING TRIAL REMINDERS:

COTTON (YIELDED & INSECTICIDE TRIALS)

We generally target early May for planting yielded cotton trials.  Being on the northern end of the cotton growing region, we make every effort to plant cotton as soon as the weather allows to make sure the cotton has time to reach maturity in the fall.  Insect trials that are not being taken to yield are generally planted after that.

We are now planting three different cotton technologies in the field depending on the objective of the trial.  A cotton variety that includes the ThryvOn technology is planted in trials that are not targeting insect control to minimize the impact of insects.  These would include trials on fertilizers, biostimulants, PGRs, and microbials.  A cotton variety containing only the Bt technology is used in trials targeting thrips and plant bugs.  Finally, a non-Bt cotton variety is used where worm pests are the target insects.

Please contact us as soon as possible if you require cotton variety outside of our normal plantings or if you require a special site type (no-till, low fertility, etc.) so that we can make arrangements prior to cotton planting season.  It is much easier to line those things up now.

 

CORN FUNGICIDE TRIALS

The logistics of our corn foliar disease trials differ from most of the other corn trials we conduct.  While we try to plant other yielded corn trials in April, we generally wait until mid-May to plant corn foliar disease trials.  On average, we have increased disease pressure with this later timing.  Also, we do most of our foliar disease work at the location in Jackson.  The Jackson location historically has much better disease pressure than the site in Memphis.

Our target disease for most of our foliar corn trials is gray leaf spot.  We will occasionally get other diseases in the mix such as southern rust, but these diseases do not occur as consistently as gray leaf spot.  To enhance the presence of foliar diseases, we plant corn hybrids that are not highly resistant to foliar diseases.

If you are looking for a foliar disease other than gray leaf spot or need to work with a specific corn hybrid, please let us know as soon as possible.  We will need to make different arrangements for those trials.

 

YIELDED SOYBEANS

We normally begin planting yielded soybean trials (fertilizers, biostimulants, microbials) as soon as we finish with cotton planting.  Soybeans require less time to mature than cotton and can be planted a bit later in the season.  We normally grow mid to late maturity group 4 soybeans but we do have some flexibility.  Our soybean varieties are typically resistant to both glyphosate and glufosinate to aid plot maintenance.

If you are looking for a special cropping situation (low fertility, etc.) or a special soybean variety, please let us know as early as possible so we can make arrangements.

 

SOYBEAN FUNGICIDE TRIALS

Much like our corn fungicide trials, we plant our soybean fungicide trials later in the season (often late May or early June) to increase disease pressure.  Our most consistent soybean disease and the one we usually target is frogeye leaf spot.  We place these trials in Jackson since disease pressure there is almost always heavier than at the Memphis location.  They are generally conducted in a no-till situation which also tends to enhance disease development.  Finally, we use soybean varieties that are known to be susceptible to frogeye leaf spot to get the best evaluations possible.

We are blessed in that we can typically get several good visual observations of fungicide activity in the soybeans.  Most of these trials are taken to yield and the degree of yield separation varies with the timing of disease development and frogeye leaf spot severity in a given season.  The earlier the disease arrives and the greater the disease intensity, the more likely we are to see yield separation between treatments.

 

WEATHER INFO:

We had a few nice days in early February that gave us hope only to have that hope crushed as typical cold and wet conditions returned to west Tennessee.  However, we are beginning to see signs that spring is coming.  In late February and early March, we typically get enough nice days scattered in to let us know we are getting to the end of winter.  If we can get the ground to dry out a bit, we will be working on wheat and burndown trials.

 

PEST INFO:

Discussions of pest pressure are limited this time of year.  We have the normal winter annual weeds covering most of our fields and maybe a few aphids hiding in the wheat.  Otherwise, most of the pests we encounter in February are the ones we cultivate in the greenhouse in order to run trials.

 

We are looking forward to another great year at Diligence Technologies.  We look forward to seeing you in the greenhouse soon and out in the field later on.  Please let us know what we can do to assist with your research needs this season.

Tim, Jackson, Jake, Will, Jim, & JT

 

Proverbs 12:24

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

Diligence Technologies Research Update (February 3, 2025)

 

Research Update (February 3, 2025)

 

Diligence Technologies Inc., West Tennessee

EVENTS FROM THE PAST MONTH:

It was great to see so many of our friends out in Monterey, CA for the 2025 NAICC meeting.  This meeting is a perennial favorite because it is attended not only by our customers but also by others in the research community.  It is difficult to attend this meeting and not learn at least a few things about running a research trial.

We also made it to the Cotton & Rice Conference in Memphis.  This meeting has a different feel as we get to visit with growers and university researchers to catch up a bit on what may be happening in field next season.

 

UPCOMING EVENTS:

We hope to be staying a little closer to home in February.  However, look for us at these events in the west Tennessee area.

West TN Grain Conference, Feb. 6, Dyersburg, TN

Cotton Focus, Feb. 11, Jackson, TN

Midsouth Farm & Gin Show, Feb. 28-Mar. 1, Memphis, TN

 

GREENHOUSE ACTIVITIES:

Were you aware that there are many greenhouse trials that we can complete in a very short time?  We generally keep corn, soybean, and cotton as well as a variety of weed species growing in the greenhouse all winter.  Therefore, we can make postemergence applications to these plants on short notice.  Let us know if you need a quick look at something.  There is a good chance we can get you some numbers in a hurry.

As the outside temperatures get typically colder in January, we are more appreciative of the greenhouse.  It is a luxury to be able to complain about how hot it can get in there on a sunny day.  We have quite a bit going in the greenhouse now, but we still have plenty of room for more.  Let us know what we can do to help.    

 

UPCOMING TRIAL REMINDERS:

WINTER WHEAT (SPRING APPLICATIONS)

We plant extra wheat in the fall in anticipation of wheat trials that will arise for the following spring.  This year is no exception, and we have space available to accommodate new protocols for this season.

Postemergence herbicide trials are typically sprayed in March.  We have locations with a variety of winter annuals commonly found in wheat production (henbit, chickweed, etc.).

Wheat fungicide trials are generally marked out from late February through April.  Our most common foliar disease in wheat is Septoria leaf spot.  These trials are typically sprayed at flag leaf which generally occurs in mid-April.  Our other common wheat disease trial is on head scab.  These treatments are usually sprayed on the developing wheat heads typically in early-May.

Please let us know soon about any wheat fertility trials you might be considering.  As we move deeper into the season, it becomes more difficult to find sites where spring fertilization programs have not already been initiated.

 

BURNDOWN TRIALS

Diligence Technologies has several great places to conduct burndown trials in the spring.  However, it is important that you contact us early enough in the year so that we do not overspray and/or till potential burndown areas in anticipation of other trials.

We typically have a good assortment of the normal winter annuals found in our area (henbit, chickweed, cutleaf eveningprimrose, poa, etc.).  These emerge during the winter months and can be sprayed as the temperatures increase in March.  Just let us know and we can initiate these trials in fairly short order.

Horseweed is often specifically requested in burndown trials (no surprise there considering its increased importance as a burndown weed often surviving into the cropping season).  In many cases, horseweed appears to be emerging later than most other burndown weeds and applications targeted toward horseweed often do not occur until April (depending on the desired weed size).  This is simply a reminder that horseweed trials often operate on a slightly different schedule from other burndown trials.

Burndown trials targeting ryegrass have become more frequent in recent years as good control options for this pest have decreased.  Please let us know as early as possible if you are planning to run a trial on ryegrass.  These trials often require additional scouting (as compared to some of our more prevalent winter annuals) in order to locate a suitable site.

 

LATE WINTER GREENHOUSE TRIALS

We have approximately three months of greenhouse season left before we shut it down and move back to full-time field work.  Since most trials require some preparation ahead of trial initiation (growing out plants, acquiring test materials, etc.), we generally need to start our last greenhouse trials in March.  That will give us time to complete the evaluations before we are overwhelmed by spring planting and other field activities.

We welcome a strong finish to our greenhouse trial season, so please do not hesitate to bring us any ideas or projects you may have.  However, please let us know soon so we can get them started in a timely manner.

 

CORN (YIELDED TRIALS)

We generally target the second week in April to begin planting yielded corn trials.  Note that this does not include corn fungicide trials.  We plant corn fungicide trials later in the season (approximately mid-May) to increase disease pressure.  For all other yielded corn trials, we try to get planting done before the end of April where possible.

Yielded corn fertility trials, biostimulant trials, and a host of other corn trials are targeted for planting in this April planting window.  As is always the case, weather is the largest variable.  This is particularly true in April where cooler temperatures often lead to extended drying times in the field after a spring rain.

Please contact us as soon as possible if you require a site that does not receive a standard spring fertilizer program.  It is much easier to block those off now than to go look for a site after the fertilizer truck has run.

 

HERBICIDE TRIALS (CORN, COTTON, SOYBEAN)

We generally target late April to begin establishing corn herbicide trials while cotton and soybean herbicide trials tend to occur later in the spring.  As with most trials targeted for an April planting window, weather is the largest variable.

We generally have corn, cotton, and soybean seed for hybrids/varieties tolerant to glyphosate and glufosinate in stock.  If you have trials that require a crop with a different trait package, please let us know as soon as possible.  Sometimes it can take a while to import seeds that are not readily available in this area.

Most herbicide protocols that we receive call for conventionally tilled ground.  Therefore, we generally till several fields early in the season to be ready.  However, we do have no-till ground available when the need arises.  If you are planning any herbicide trials in no-till, please let us know so that we can reserve you a spot.

For those looking to run trials on a specific soil type, almost all the soils in this area are classified as silt loams (medium texture) and tend to have organic matter in the 2% range.

 

WEATHER INFO:

Winter finally arrived in west Tennessee.  We had avoided the snow, ice, and really cold temperatures through December.  However, early January brought us a 6 inch snow (which is a lot for us) and freezing temperatures.  In typical west Tennessee fashion, we all stayed home for a day or two, the sun came out, and it was all over.  We probably still have a little longer to go before we start to see pretty days as January and early February tend to be our true winter months.

 

PEST INFO:

Not much to see in the field right now except for winter annual weeds (which is a good thing for wheat herbicide and burndown trials).  That will likely be the case till things begin to warm up in March.

 

As always, we look forward to seeing you around the greenhouse this winter and in the field next summer.  Let us know how we can be of service in your research program.

Tim, Jackson, Jake, Will, Jim, & JT

 

Proverbs 10:4

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