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.

Research Update (February 6, 2023)

  Research Update (February 6, 2023)

 

Diligence Technologies Inc., West Tennessee

EVENTS FROM THE PAST MONTH:

We have been keeping the roads hot lately as late January and early February tend to be the heart of meeting season for us.  We made a stop in Baton Rouge for the SWSS meeting.  This one is always a bit like homecoming for me since the SWSS was my first professional meeting.  We also attended a very successful NAICC meeting in Nashville.  Rumor has it that this was the largest NAICC meeting yet with around 850 in attendance.  The Tennessee Ag Production association meeting had to be changed to an on-line format due to icy weather.  The presentations were good, but you miss the interaction of an in-person gathering.  Fortunately, the weather cleared up enough that the West Tennessee Grain Conference was held as planned the following day.

While the travel can be a bit tiring, this is still one of my favorite times of the year.  There is no substitute for seeing old friends and making new ones.

 

UPCOMING EVENTS:

We still have a few meetings left on the calendar:

Cotton Focus, Feb. 8, Jackson, TN

Gin Show, Feb 24-25, Memphis, TN

Let me know if you plan to attend any meetings in our area this winter.  I would enjoy the opportunity to catch up before we return our attention to the field.

 

CROPPING SEASONS:

Our biggest field activity right now is watching wheat grow (or, more accurately, watching wheat sit there and get ready to grow this spring).  In any case, we should be doing wheat maintenance in late February or early March as the weather allows.

We also begin to think about burndown trials in February and March.  We traditionally have fields with horseweed, cutleaf eveningprimrose, henbit, chickweed, poa, and more.  If you are in need of some burndown work this spring, we should be able to handle it.

 

GREENHOUSE ACTIVITIES:

Greenhouse activities are in full swing with a wide variety of crops currently being tested.  We have trials on corn, cotton, soybean, wheat, beet, carrot, dry beans, peanut, and tomato in there right now.  We also have lysimeter trials getting underway in the near future.

Fortunately, the greenhouse is big and we have lots of room for more.  Let me know if you still need a greenhouse project conducted this winter.  We will try to make it happen.

 

WEATHER INFO:

The weather word for the month is “wet”.  That is not a bad thing in January as we look to start the season with good moisture.  Just hope it will moderate a bit as we get closer to planting time.  We will see.

 

PEST INFO:

We most always have the normal list of suspects as it relates to winter annual weeds in the field right now (see the burndown discussion under Cropping Seasons).  The one big newcomer impacting our area is ryegrass.  In recent years, it has become increasingly difficult to control with our standard burndown herbicides (glyphosate, paraquat).  Failures in control have led to issues in crops such as wheat and corn.  If you happen to have a good ryegrass product, you could become very popular around west Tennessee (and beyond).

 

Thank you to all our friends that have already contacted us about setting up trials in the greenhouse and 2023 field season.  We look forward to working with you again this year.  If we can be of service, just let us know.

Tim, John Louis, Jake & Jim

 

Proverbs 10:4

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

Research Update (January 12, 2023)

 

Research Update (January 12, 2023)

 

Diligence Technologies Inc., West Tennessee

EVENTS FROM THE PAST (MONTH) SUMMER:

It has been a long, long time since we had the opportunity to update the blog.  This seems appropriate since 2022 was a long, long year.  Here’s hoping that things go a bit smoother in the coming season.

Wet weather in April got planting off to a slow start.  A serious drought in June and early July hurt everything and completely destroyed a few trials.  An early frost prematurely terminated a few others.  Wet weather in the fall delayed harvest so some of the reports were later than normal.  None of these things are new or unique.  But it is the first time I can recall having them all in the same growing season.

We are blessed to have made it through relatively well and look forward to a less eventful 2023.

 

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Meeting season is in full swing and we look forward to seeing you at these upcoming events:

SWSS, Jan. 23-25, Baton Rouge, LA

NAICC, Jan. 23-27, Nashville, TN

TN Ag Production Assoc., Feb. 1, Jackson, TN

West TN Grain Conf., Feb. 2, Dyersburg, TN

Cotton Focus, Feb. 8, Jackson, TN

Gin Show, Feb. 24-25, Memphis, TN

Let us know if you plan to attend any of these meetings.  We would love to have the opportunity to catch up and see what is new in your world.

 

CROPPING SEASONS:

The field is pretty quiet right now.  All the fall maintenance on the winter wheat trials is complete and we will probably not do much to them until it starts to warm up in the spring.  Winter wheat and a little fall burndown work are about the only things left out there right now.

We do have some extra winter wheat planted that is not spoken for right now.  If you need some wheat work this spring (fungicides, herbicides, etc.), be sure to let us know.  We should be able to fit it in.

 

GREENHOUSE ACTIVITIES:

We opened up the greenhouse last fall and trials are underway.  It appears we will get busier here soon as our normal rush of January greenhouse trials come in.  We will be working with various row crops and vegetables that I know about right now.  Our greenhouse trials tend to be quite diverse and highly interesting.

If you need a greenhouse trial this winter, let us know.  We should still have time and space to accommodate your needs.

 

On a personal note, we would like to welcome Jacob Williams to the team.  Jake joins John Louis as a full-time employee and started with us after his graduation from UT Martin in December.  You can meet Jake when you come to visit plots in the coming season.

In addition, we would like to welcome Jim Thomas to the family.  Jim has been helping us part-time since last fall and is a wealth of knowledge and experience.

 

Many thanks to all who supported us over the past season.  Even though the year was far from smooth, we were blessed that you choose to work with us once again and look forward to more in the coming years.  Please let us know how we can be of service in 2023.

 

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.