Mississippi producers planted 65K acres of grain sorghum this year, up from 52K acres in 2011, and 12K acres in 2010. Grain sorghum traditionally in MS has been considered a “step child†crop that went on the worst dry land
When to terminate spider mite treatments can be a very difficult decision this time of year. Spider mites can cause yield loss directly by feeding on small squares and bolls causing them to abort, or indirectly by feeding on leaves which reduces photosynthesis not allowing bolls to fill out correctly. In many ways this indirect damage would be very similar to defoliation.
Fall armyworm can be a challenging pest to find and an even more challenging pest to manage in some crops. The damage that they cause and their management varies greatly from crop to crop. The reason for this is due to their preferred feeding sites on different crops and the presence of host strains.
This is a friendly reminder that the Rice Field at Delta Research and Extension Service in Stoneville, MS will be tomorrow (July 31, 2012). Registration at Capps Center- 2:00 pm. Rice Market Outlook presentation by Milo Hamilton –
This year started out with most folks expecting higher than usual bollworm numbers due to the mild winter. Couple that with increased corn acres and the perfect storm was thought to be brewing. This is why entomologists get “shifty†when
Aphids have really been blowing up recently in cotton across Mississippi, so I wanted to give a quick update on our bioassay results from this year. To date, I have not tested a single colony that was susceptible to neonicotinoids.
Over the past week we have been getting a significant amount of rain across most of Mississippi. Unfortunately, most insects don’t mind the rain. Other than spider mites and aphids, we will likely have to continue managing insects in all crops despite the rain.
I am getting a lot of calls about various worms in peanuts. In nearly every case, it is a complex of multiple species. It seems that the complex in the Delta region consists mainly of the rednecked peanut worm, granulate
It has been a number of years since a field day was conducted at the R.R. Foil Plant Science Research center near the campus of Mississippi State University. To that end, a row crop field day will be held on
Overall, tarnished plant bug numbers appear to be decreasing across the Delta. Several things are contributing to this decline. The biggest factor is that the hot, dry weather is starting to take it’s toll on a lot of the wild
We have gotten multiple calls over the last week about fall armyworms in soybeans and peanuts. In every case, it has been a situation where people got behind on grass control when we were getting a lot of rain a couple weeks ago. In those situations, they have sprayed the grass during the last two weeks with products such as Select or Roundup that are relatively slow acting. A lot of the grass is infested with grass-strain fall armyworm and big worms start moving over into the crop about a week to ten days after the application when the grass starts to die.
This week has been the turning point on plant bugs and appears to be the week for the mass movement of migrating adults into cotton fields in many areas. Compared to previous years we are 10-14 days behind schedule. There have been quite a few sprays going out for tarnished plant bug this year but as a whole numbers have actually not been as high to date as many of us would have thought with the warm winter.
As some of the rice in Mississippi is starting to approach head emergence within the next few weeks, I wanted to give a brief update on rice stink bug populations that we are seeing across the Delta.
The DREC will be holding two separate field days, one for corn and soybean on July 19 and one for rice on July 31.
Plant bug sprays are going out this week but overall numbers have not been as high as expected to date. This can change rapidly as plant bugs begin to move into fields from wild host plants. Click to Enlarge
Transform, a new insecticide containing the active ingredient sulfoxaflor, has received an emergency use exemption for Delta counties in Mississippi for the control of tarnished plant bug in cotton. This product represents a new mode of action and has excellent
Plant bug numbers are picking up this week in the Delta areas in the ditch banks. Click to enlarge
In most years it is not uncommon to overspray 20-30% of the cotton acres for thrips in MS. Last year (2011) was an anomaly in that we treated around 70% of the cotton acres for thrips due to extremely high pressure. It appears that this year is shaping up the same way. This week we have had numerous calls on young cotton with very high numbers of thrips. There have also been reports of Western flower thrips on cotton.
There have been a lot of questions recently about thrips control in peanuts. In general, thrips will not hurt peanut yields except in EXTREME situations. Peanut seedlings are relatively vigorous compared to most of the crops grown in Mississippi. Foliar insecticide applications, though rarely needed, should be based on plant injury rather than thrips numbers.
In the last couple of days there have been calls coming in about armyworms in wheat. It is not unusual for us to get armyworms in wheat in MS but this at least 2-3 weeks ahead of schedule compared to years past.
The time until cotton starts to square is still a few months away, but it is not too early to start thinking about managing plant bugs in cotton. With the mild winter, plant bug population densities appear to be a little higher on wild hosts than they have the past couple of years.
This is a brief review of the many agronomy, breeding, pest management, soil fertility, and water conservation research projects funded by the Mississippi Rice Promotion Board.
On behalf of the Mississippi State University Extension Service we would like to cordially invite you to attend the 2011 Row Crop Short Course to be held at the Bost Extension Center on the campus of Mississippi State University from
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