Research Update (April 5, 2021)
Diligence Technologies Inc., West Tennessee
EVENTS FROM THE PAST MONTH:
We are in the transition stage between winter and summer (yes, I know they call it spring). We will be finishing off our greenhouse work this month as field work starts to increase. We have already started burndown trials and wheat applications with more of both expected in April. We look forward to getting outside and enjoying a little sunshine.
CROPPING SEASONS:
As noted above, some of our burndown trials are sprayed with others about to go out soon. Postemergence wheat weed control work is underway and we anticipate spraying wheat fungicide trials before long. Corn planting will begin in April as the weather allows. We generally target the second week of April for planting yielded corn trials and actually start planting whenever the fields are dry enough after that. Corn weed control trials and early cotton trials should begin in late April.
GREENHOUSE ACTIVITIES:
The greenhouse is unusually busy for April. We still have a fair number of trials to finish off this month before we close down for the summer. I will pass along one insider secret for all those that still have trials going in the greenhouse. If you visit the greenhouse this month, you may get to take home a few tomato or pepper plants for your garden. We generally plant some extras.
WEATHER INFO:
March was generally mild and we were able to get some field work done between rain showers. It felt good to be outside on those sunny days with 70 degree temperatures (particularly after our cold snap in late February). There is little doubt that there are still some cool temperatures to endure in April, but at least we are getting a taste of the summer ahead.
PEST INFO:
Burndown weeds are still the main pests we are interested in right now. We have outstanding populations of cutleaf eveningprimrose. We also have good populations of horseweed, chickweed, poa and a few other winter annuals. For whatever reason, we have not seen as much henbit in our fields as we normally expect. It seems the mix is a bit different most every spring.
We hope you are looking forward to a bit more normal summer and more opportunities to visit out in the field (I know we are). If you have a project or two that you are still looking to place this year, please give us a call. We will be glad to help.
Proverbs 12:27
… the substance of the diligent man is precious.
