2016 Hale, Swisher, & Floyd Annual IPM Report

2016 Hale, Swisher, & Floyd Annual IPM Report

 

 

https://hale.agrilife.org/ipm-2/

Provided is a link to the 2016 Hale, Swisher, & Floyd Annual IPM Report.  Included in the report are:

• Summaries of our 2016 educational plans and the results of customer impact surveys

• List of 2016 Educational Activities and Highlights

• Summary of the 2016 growing season from an IPM standpoint

• Links to all 2016 IPM newsletters for reference

• Research result report summaries of all 2016 research and demonstration trials conducted

Please take a look over any research results pertinent to you and consider any impacts.  Feel free to share as desired.

See you soon as we get 2017 underway!

Thanks,

Blayne

 

 

 

April 24, 2017 Quick Look at Area Soil Temperaturesand Successful Planting of Sorghum, Corn, & Cotton

April 24, 2017 Quick Look at Area Soil Temperatures and Successful Planting of Sorghum, Corn, & Cotton

               Planting season is nearly upon us again, and many good producers are getting very antsy about getting into the field, especially our sorghum producers who need to get that crop started and get as much development completed as possible before the dreaded sugarcane aphid arrives.  This morning I took two soil temperature readings in Southern and Southeastern Swisher County.  The first was 59°F and in a no-till pivot with heavy wheat stubble cover.  The second was at 60⁰F and in conventionally flat tilled, drip irrigated cotton on cotton ground.  This is a pretty good soil temperature for planting corn or grain sorghum, but is far too cool for cotton.  Then there is the consideration of this week’s forecast with two additional cold fronts due in before the start of May with night temperatures dipping into the 30’s and 40’s.

               The minimum soil temperature for corn is 56°F (preferably 58°F or with a warmer week ahead to emerge into) while sorghum requires a 58°F (preferably 60°F or with a warmer week ahead to emerge into).  With those cooler temperatures in the upcoming forecast I do get a touch apprehensive about all crops we might have starting in the soil so far, but odd remain that corn and sorghum should be ok as just as many warm days are predicted as cold.

               Cotton gets off to its best start when planted in a recommended 69°F consistent temperature soil (roughly 64°F bare minimum with high air temperatures in the upper 80’s to low 90’s for the following week to continue a steep soil warming trend).  Soil temperature can and does generally follow air temperatures with some lag time.  Higher moisture content in the soil usually slows the soil’s response to air temperatures while dryer soils respond quicker.  Likewise, soils with heavy cover will naturally be cooler through the shading of the soil by the cover.  The best time to take soil temperature reading in your fields would be between 7 AM and 10 AM.  That early morning period is when the soil temperature should be at its lowest, guaranteeing that the reading is accurately the minimum temperature we need to be watching.  As I look at the forecast, jumble it up with research results about cotton getting off to its best start, the cotton should certainly stay in the barn for a bit longer.

               We will be taking a few more local soil temperature readings next week to get the best feel for ideal cotton planting conditions.

Good Luck!

Blayne Reed

U.S. EPA Denies Activist Petition and Retains All Chlorpyrifos Tolerances

The following was just released today from Dow AgroSciences:




On October 30, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a proposal to revoke U.S. food tolerances for the insecticide chlorpyrifos. This proposal was an outcome of a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal decision ordering EPA to respond to allegations about chlorpyrifos in a 2007 petition from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA), even before the Agency had finished its formal health and safety evaluations of the product underway in registration review.

On November 17, 2016, the EPA released a Notice of Data Availability (NODA) with accompanying assessments to notify the public of the data that the Agency may use to support its proposed decision to revoke all chlorpyrifos tolerances. Both of these releases by EPA offered the opportunity for public comment and many comments were submitted in support of retaining chlorpyrifos tolerances from universities, stakeholders, growers, and customers in the ensuing comment periods. Dow AgroSciences also submitted a comprehensive response to both EPA releases.

U.S. EPA on March 29, 2017, announced that it would not proceed forward at this time with any restrictions for chlorpyrifos or changes to U.S. tolerances. In addition, EPA has notified the Courts that it is denying the NGO petition in full. Instead, EPA announced that it will focus its attention on updating and revising its human health assessment for chlorpyrifos under the standard procedures of the Registration Review process scheduled for completion on October 1, 2022 in order to support future decision making.

Dow AgroSciences believes the science and established legal and regulatory standards and processes support the EPA decision to deny the activist petition and retain all chlorpyrifos tolerances. Dow AgroSciences remains confident that authorized uses of chlorpyrifos products offer wide margins of protection for human health and safety. This is the right decision for farmers who, in about 100 countries, rely on the effectiveness of chlorpyrifos to protect more than 50 crops from damaging insect pests, some of which can only be effectively controlled with chlorpyrifos. Dow AgroSciences will continue to cooperate with EPA under the established Registration Review process in its scientific review of this important crop protection solution.



Blayne