Bertie County Ag News

Transcription

1 North Carolina Cooperative Extension August 2016 Bertie County Ag News William (Billy) Barrow, Jr. County Extension Director Contact Us For more information regarding any of your farming needs, please feel free to contact our office at Your questions and concerns are important to us. Greetings from the Bertie County Ag Extension Office. My name is Billy Barrow and I have assumed the position of County Extension Director. I began this position July 1 and have met a growing number of our clients so far and look forward to meeting more of you in the coming weeks. This is the first edition of a regular newsletter to address Ag related issues in our County as well as other timely topics. Peanut Maturity Clinics: The choice of your digging date and the digging operation is the single most important factor affecting your bottom line. Choosing it 7-10 days too early can reduce your yields by 15-20% based on research by Dr. David Jordan. With a 4000 lb yield that is equal to pounds per acre. Your goal should be to have 75 to 80% of your pods mature before putting the digger in the field. This is determined by removing the outer layer of the hull and inspecting the color of the layer below it. This can be done using the hull scrape method or blasting with a power washer and sorting the pods into the different maturity levels. We will hold four (4) peanut maturity clinics to assist you in determining the maturity of your crop. The dates and times are below: Powell and Stokes Sept 9 and Sept. 20 8:30 to Noon Colerain Peanut and Supply Sept 13 and Sept. 22 9:00 to Noon Proper sample collection is important to getting good information that will help you make good decisions. Collect 2-3 plants from a representative area of the field the morning of the clinic and remove all full size pods (100 to 200 pods). If it is not possible, collect them the afternoon before but keep the pods wet until they can be examined. We look forward to seeing our peanut growers at one or several of our Peanut Maturity Clinics.

2 Countdown to Harvest Test As we move into the last portion of our peanut growing season, you will see more pressure from foliar and soil borne diseases. Be sure to include a treatment for southern stem rot or white mold now with your leafspot treatments (even on Baileys). There is some leafspot RESISTANCE to Group 11 fungicides showing up to our south. These include such products as Abound, Evito and Headline. Use these at the maximum rates, mix them with fungicides from other group numbers and end the season with an application of a Group M fungicide (chlorothalonil i.e. Bravo or one of its generics or a premix containing Bravo). Scout for Sclerotina Blight Conditions will be more favorable for its development in the coming days as our night time temps begin to decrease. Scout early in the morning while vines are moist or after a rain. Look for cottony growth webbing on limbs in the middle of the plants. Our most effective control is a preventative. Treat if you have a history and at first detection. Omega has shown the best control once the disease is present. Watch the Weather Late August through September are the times when we have the highest risk of tropical storms. Continue to monitor the Leafspot advisory as conditions for diseases can change rapidly. Growers can call to get daily Peanut Leaf Spot and Sclerotinia Spray Advisories or access it on our web page bertie.ces.ncsu.edu. Dates of Interest September 8 th 2016 Peanut Field Day at the Peanut Belt Research Station in Lewiston, NC. Registration begins at 8:30. Tours begin at 9:00 a.m. September 15 th 2016 Cotton Field Day at The Upper Coastal Plain Research Station located at 2811 Nobles Mill Pond Road, Rocky Mount N.C. Registration begins at 11:00 a.m. Programs and lunch begin at 11:30, tours start at 1:15 and conclude at 5:00 p.m.

3 Sage Planting The calendar and recent rains have turned the attention of many growers to planting clary sage. Good soil moisture should help with uniform stands this fall, but keep a sharp eye because these conditions can change quickly. Keeping the crop clean will be the next challenge. Growers continue to have a limited herbicide arsenal. There are no true pre-emergence herbicides labelled for sage. The best option at this point is to apply Parazone at 4 oz/acre as an early post emergence when the sage reaches 1-2 inches in diameter. This can be followed up with a second post application of Parazone at 8 oz per acre when the crop is 4 inches in diameter. Additional applications of Parazone alone or tank mixed with Linex for residual control are options later in the season. Further weed control options will be forth coming as the crop progresses. Nickels for Know-How Referendum - November 1st Farmers, Gardeners, Landscapers and Homeowners will have the opportunity on Tuesday November 1 to vote to continue the self- assessment of.15 (or 3 nickels) per 100 pounds of feed and fertilizer produced in N.C. to support agricultural education and research in North Carolina. Anyone purchasing feed or fertilizer in North Carolina is eligible to vote. This Nickels for Know-How program has been in effect since 1948 and generates about $1.4 million annually. This money is collected by NCDA and allocated by the NC Agricultural Foundation, Inc. to support projects at NC State benefiting the people of N.C. Polling places will be advertised in the coming weeks. Scout Cotton and Soybeans Bollworms or corn earworm pressure is moderate to high in areas across Bertie County. Growers are advised to check each field. We have seen situations where fields divided only by a path would have populations high enough to warrant spraying one side and the other would have almost no insects. There is also evidence that bollworm populations are breaking through the Bt resistance in cotton this year especially the PhytoGen varieties. Varieties which may not have required treatment in the past may need treatment in When scouting cotton focus on the upper part of the plant. Examine smaller bolls (quarter size or less) and bloom tags. One worm found in 25 fruiting tissues warrant treating at this time. Treatment can be made with any of the insecticides listed in the Ag Chemical manual (page 80). Products such as Prevathon and Besiege will give longer residual control.

4 Stink Bugs and Cotton Stink bugs have become more abundant and damaging since the introduction of BT cotton. Their damage is more prevalent in fields where bollworm treatments have been minimal (i.e. none or one). Our light trap numbers continue to indicate moderate numbers of stink bugs present. A sample of 25 (minimum) quarter size bolls (more in larger fields, approximately 1 boll per acre) should be inspected each scouting session beginning at early boll develop- ment but especially in weeks 3-6 of the bloom period. Bolls should be crushed by hand or cut open to examine the locks and inner wall surface. Count all internal damage except for pin pricks. Treatment is recommended when 10% of the bolls have damage. A smart phone app is available to aid in decision making. This can be downloaded from Google Play or the Apple App store. Type in stink bug and the NCSU decision aid will pop up. Below is a copy of the decision aid card with thresholds. Our light trap generally indicates higher populations of green stink bugs vs brown. If you have damage use a beat cloth to determine the type present in your field and choose an appropriate treatment.

5 William (Billy) Barrow, Jr. County Extension Director Bertie County Center North Carolina Cooperative Extension 204 So. Queen St., PO Box 280 Windsor, NC Phone: (252) Fax: (252) North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T State University commit themselves to positive action to secure equal opportunity regardless of race, color, creed, national origin, religion, sex, age, or disability. In addition, the two Universities welcome all persons without regard to sexual orientation. North Carolina State University, North Carolina A&T State University, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and local governments cooperating. NC Cooperative Extension Bertie County Center 204 So. Queen Street PO Box 280 Windsor, NC RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED