Monday, February 6, 2023

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.