Research Update (November 6, 2023)

 

Research Update (November 6, 2023)

 

Diligence Technologies Inc., West Tennessee

EVENTS FROM THE PAST MONTH:

Harvest continues at its normal (meaning slow) pace.  All the yielded corn trials are out and final reports are being issued.  Soybean and cotton harvest continues as we near the end of trials conducted this summer.

Wheat planting was slowed by lack of moisture, but we finally did manage to get it in the ground ahead of one of the few rains we have had this fall.  Fall burndown trials are also running late as we waited for moisture to get some of the winter annuals out of the ground.

All in all, it has not been a bad fall and we look forward to moving out of the field and transitioning to our winter greenhouse projects.

 

UPCOMING EVENTS:

As we near the end of the year, we are making plans for winter meetings.  Right now we plan to attend the following:

NCWSS, Minneapolis, MN, Dec. 11-14

NAICC, San Antonio, TX, Jan. 15-19

SWSS/WSSA, San Antonio, TX, Jan. 22-24

West TN Grain Conf., Dyersburg, TN, Feb. 1

Cotton Focus, Jackson, TN, Feb. 7

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

 

We may add a few more to the list as time allows.

 

CROPPING SEASONS:

Wheat is planted and just beginning to emerge.  We have a bit more spraying to do on fall burndown trials.  And of course, we need to finish up harvest on soybean and cotton trials.

We will have some extra wheat available if you decide to run postemergence trials this fall or next spring.  Just let us know.

 

GREENHOUSE ACTIVITIES:

The greenhouse is open and initial trials are underway with more to start in the coming week.  Now is a great time to let us know if you have any greenhouse projects in mind for this winter.

 

WEATHER INFO:

In a nice change from last year, we had pretty good moisture all through the spring and summer.  September and October were very dry which is great for harvest but made wheat planting difficult.  With wheat in the ground and enough moisture to get it going, we hope for a bit more dry weather to finish off the harvest season.

 

Thanks to all that have helped keep us busy over the past summer and we look forward to working with you on greenhouse projects this winter.  Please call if we can be of service.

Tim, John Louis, Jake, Will, & Jim

 

Proverbs 21:5

The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness.

 

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.

Research Update (March 6, 2023)

 

Research Update (March 6, 2023)

 

Diligence Technologies Inc., West Tennessee

EVENTS FROM THE PAST MONTH:

We finished off meeting season for the winter with Cotton Focus in Jackson, TN and the Gin Show in Memphis, TN.  With the end of meeting season, we know it will not be long before things get serious again.  We now begin to put winter behind us and start to focus on the year ahead.

 

CROPPING SEASONS:

Field activity is beginning to increase as we get closer to spring.  Wheat trial maintenance (fertilizing, spraying) is underway as the weather allows (which has not been all that often to this point).  It has been a bit wet in a lot of our fields since the middle of February.

Burndown trials are beginning to be sprayed depending on weed species.  Trials targeted at ryegrass are out while those that focus on horseweed will come a bit later.  Horseweed emergence tends to occur at various times depending on the year, and it looks like this season the horseweed is coming in on the late side.  We are holding off on most of our horseweed applications until the weeds reach the desired size.

One benefit to small horseweed this time of year is that you still have time to run a burndown trial if you need one.  Give us a call if you have burndown products you would like to test.

We are also cutting out new wheat trials from our existing fields to evaluate spring-applied chemistry (fungicides, fertilizers, etc.).  We still have some wheat left if you are looking for a location.

 

GREENHOUSE ACTIVITIES:

Greenhouse activity seems to be reaching its high point for the season.  While we are finishing off some of the early work, we are just getting started on a wide variety of new projects.  Good to have some honest (i.e. not office) work to do while we wait for spring to arrive.

We probably still have time to slide in a few quick projects if you need a greenhouse trial this season.  Give us a call if we can help.

 

WEATHER INFO:

Progress on wheat maintenance and burndown trials has been slowed by a weekly rainy period over the past few weeks.  We have made a little progress here and there, but could use a nice warm and sunny week to make things go a bit smoother.  However, we are still well within our normal trial windows and should be fine in the end.

 

PEST INFO:

As discussed earlier, we are still waiting to find some larger horseweed for burndown trials.  However, we seem to have plenty of everything else (chickweed, cutleaf eveningprimrose, ryegrass, poa, etc.).  In the end, I expect this to be a good year for burndown trials.

Most of wheat does not have a lot of weeds since we got it sprayed last fall and we have not encountered a lot of aphid problems to this point.

 

Thanks again for you continued support of Diligence Technologies.  We look forward to working with you all in the coming season.  Please let us know if there is anything we can do to support your research program in 2023.

Tim, John Louis, Jake & Jim

 

Proverbs 12:24

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