Research Update (June 22, 2013)

Diligence Technologies Inc., West Tennessee

We are nearing the end of the beginning (meaning we are in the home stretch of the big spring push to get new trials established).  We have a few late soybean trials to plant next week and a few more weed trials to get underway, but we are starting to transition from trial establishment to maintenance and data collection.

Wheat harvest is underway and, like most others are reporting from this area, yields seem to be holding up well.  Now to determine how much bump we got from all those experimental herbicides and fungicides we put out last fall and this spring.

We got rain this week on Monday across the entire region and again locally around Memphis on Wednesday.  These were welcome as the ground was starting to dry out a bit.  In the heat of the summer, we are always about two weeks away from being too dry in Memphis.  The soils are a little heavier at the Jackson location, so it often takes a bit long to see the stress on the crops.

The frequent rain this spring has been great for weed trials.  It has provided flush after flush of pigweeds as well as most any other weed you can think of.  Of course, if it is not a weed control trial that's a different story.  Let's just say the sprayers have not sit idle much this spring.

Thanks to our friends at Arysta, SePro, and MWI Consulting for dropping by over the past couple of weeks to visit.  Hope to see them back soon.

Proverbs 12:24
The hand of the diligent shall bear rule, but the slothful shall be put to forced labor.

Research Update (June 8, 2013)

Diligence Technologies Inc., West Tennessee

It was basically a week of grinding out trials.  We missed the rains on Thursday (which may be the first ones we have missed this year), and spent the week playing catch-up.  Considering the slow start to the season, we may be playing catch-up for quite some time.

Yielded cotton trials are largely off and running.  Now we are switching our attention to soybeans as well as weed and bug trials.  We have a long line of those to get started.  Efforts are slowed to some extent because we are having to go back in and clean up fields again in order to initiate trials.  Some of the fields are pretty wooly since it has been a while since we did our initial field preparations.

The pest problem of choice right now is extreme thrip pressure in cotton.  Judging for the counts obtained in our thrip trials, this could very well be the heaviest thrip population I can recall.  Almost every cotton trial I have that is out of the ground received a postemergence application for thrips this past week.  Would not be surprising if we get to do it again next week.

Thanks to our friends from Syngenta Seeds and Brandt that stopped by for visits this past week.

Also, thanks to all our customers for their patience as we have slowly limped into this season.  Most things have been behind schedule but we will keep working to get your data rolling in as soon as we can.

Proverbs 10:4

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

Research Update (June 1, 2013)

Diligence Technologies Inc., West Tennessee

Another week with a rain delay in a year where all the weeks have had rain delays.  As of yet, we have not had a single week this season where the we could do the field work we planned for the entire week.

We still have some yielded cotton trials left to plant and some cotton in lower areas left to replant (for the fourth time!).  The cotton we have up is in need of some more warm, sunny weather to get it moving.  We will finish up cotton planting as soon as the ground dries out and switch our attention to soybeans and weed screens.

Thanks to our friends from FMC and AgroFresh for dropping by to visit this week.  Always good to have them stop by.

We'll be back at it as soon as the rain lets up!

Proverbs 22:29
Seest thou a man diligent in his business?  He shall stand before kings…