July 31, 2001

Wheat

Karnal Bunt  
For those that want to get into the middle of this issue, plan to attend a meeting to be held at the San Saba Civic Center at 6:00 p.m. on August 23, 2001. The San Saba Civic Center is east of San Saba on FM 190, it is located in the southeast corner of Mill Pond Park. This meeting will have a heavy mix of politics and producers.

The Karnal Bunt educational meetings coordinated by Jerry Kidd on July 12 and 13 were well attended and a crowd is expected for the meeting scheduled August 23.

Small Grain Result Demonstrations  

Linked are two wheat variety result demonstration summaries from Runnels County. Those linked to last month's newsletter have now been updated with the new name and logo on them.

The time to contact me for planning small grain tests is now. I will attempt to find the lowest price seed available. For the last two years it has averaged around $9.00 per bag. Some of the limited varieties have cost as much as $20 for a fifty pound bag. Variety tests can be designed to look at grain production, forage production or both. Seed may be needed for grazing studies looking at planting date and/or livestock removal date, seed treatment studies, and small grain comparison tests. Other types of demonstrations include fertility and weed control tests. For weed control we will be looking for plots that have problems with Wild oats, Ryegrass, Rescuegrass, or Jointed Goatgrass.

Field preparation for planting small grains should be completed soon so the seedbeds have time to firm. Volunteer plants and weeds serve as a host for insects and diseases and need to be terminated a minimum of two weeks before planting. The use of a burndown herbicide will also work, but it will be challenging to kill moisture stressed weeds.


Cotton

As daytime temperatures consistently go above 100 degrees F, the late planted cotton will have a problem developing functional bolls. As the small squares (less than five days of age) are developing, the heat generated from the soil surface is high enough to result in pollen sterilization. Generally, if there was only one or two days of these hot temperatures, most producers would not even notice the loss of bolls at flowering. However, with a week of these temperatures, we will have an obvious gap in the cotton fruiting pattern and producers will want to blame it on a flush of insects or something. In acreage where cotton plants have grown enough that the leaf canopy shades most of the soil surface, this will help reduce the problem.

Harvest Aids

Some of the cotton is progressing at a rapid rate and may be ready to terminate by the end of August. If your planning to conduct cotton harvest aid termination tests let me know. Stephen Biles is conducting several in the counties he serves. Also, Rick Minzenmayer and Warren Multer will be establishing tests.

Weeds and Weed ID

Shown are six weeds that are developing in cropland and barditches at this time.

Yellow Nutsedge
Cyperus esculentus
Browntop Panicum
Panicum fasiculatum
Texas Panicum
Panicum texanum

Junglerice
Echinochloa colona
Texas blueweed
Helianthus ciliaris
Hogpotato
Hoffmanseggia densiflora


Grain Sorghum and Forages

What do you do on a summer afternoon when it is 104 degrees? Have a forage field day.

The tour held in Runnels County on July 18 was well attended and producers had the opportunity to learn more about currently available forages. Some of the Brown-Mid-Rib forages were impressive and the PhotoPeriod Sensitive varieties will meet a need for the producers in our region.

Brown-Mid-Rib varieties have higher digestibly than forages traditionally planted, however, stalk strength is lower. The PhotoPeriod Sensative varieties will not head out for approximately four weeks after the day length drops below 12 hours and 40 minutes, that allows producers a wider harvest window.


Pesticide Recertification Training

On Monday, August 13, there will be a training conducted at Abilene for producers needing to obtain a Private Applicators License. For more details and to register for the meeting call Gary Bomar at (915) 672-6048.

If you have a training where CEUs are offered, please let me know.


Monthly Calendar

August

August 6, District Office, Office Conference
August 8, Fisher County, Turnrow meeting
August 13 - 17, Brazos County, Staff Conference
August 17, Tom Green County, Professional Ag Workers Meeting
August 21, Brown County, Forage Production Workshop and Hay Show
August 22, Borden/Scurry County, Forage, Cotton and Range Field Day
August 23, San Saba County, Politics and Wheat Production
August 25, District 4-H Adult Leaders Meeting
August 28, Glasscock County, Establish Harvest Aid Test
August 31, Tom Green County, Southern Rolling Plains Ginners Asso.

September

September 3, Holiday, Labor Day
September 4, District Office, Office Conference
September 5, Mason County, Fall Field Crops Meeting and Tour
September 6, Tom Green County, Sheep and Goat Field Day
September 11, Glasscock County, Cotton Tour
September 12 -23, New York, Professional Development
September 24, District 7 Office, Specialist Scheduling
September 25-30, Tom Green County, Harvest Aid Test Plot Establishment


Sincerely,


Billy E. Warrick
Extension Agronomist
Texas Agricultural Extension Service
Texas A&M University System