| October 31, 2001 |
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I have heard from producers and agents that approximately two percent of the small grain acreage is having to be sprayed to control insects. Fall armyworms and aphids are the primary target pests. The impact of aphids may not be obvious until later in the growing season when disease symptoms become apparent.
We have had one confirmed case of Dryland Foot Rot in Taylor county and it was on a farm that has been in continuous wheat for several years. The best option for control of this disease is to rotate out of small grains for two years. Seed treatments provide some protection in fields with moderate disease pressure.
On October 19, Scott Anderson and I made the initial herbicide applications on a Ryegrass Control Demonstration between Bangs and Brownwood. This test has nine treatments and is replicated three times. Additional test work is being conducted by Syngenta on the same site and we should obtain some useful information from these tests. Wild oat control tests will be established between now and January in two counties.
Hopefully, when you picked up your small grain seed at Abilene Ag, you thanked Dub Vinson for handling the separation and storage of the seed until you were ready to plant. His assistance helps reduce the need to travel to San Angelo to obtain your small grain seed for result demonstration tests.
Producers should keep a watchful eye on the developing broadleaf weeds. When weed size becomes a concern the producers need to follow the label closely if use of a hormone herbicide such as 2,4-D is selected to control the weeds. Most of the 2,4-D labels indicate that the wheat needs to be past the tillering stage before applying the herbicide. You may need to switch over to some other class of herbicide (example: Ally or Amber).
The results obtained from Harvest aid result demonstrations tests conducted this year ranged from good to poor. The environmental factors were favorable for regrowth and detrimental to defoliation. The rainfall in late-August and early-September resulted in additional cotton plant development of 6 to 18 inches. The removal of juvenile growth could only be achieved using 4 to 5 ounces of Ginstar. The juvenile growth could be desiccated using 0.4 to 0.66 ounce of Aim. The cooler air temperatures slowed the development of the abscission layer and that delayed the followup treatment of paraquat (Cyclone Max, Boa, etc). Additional boll opening was obtained using a high rate of Finish. The expense of many of these Harvest aids kept producers from using them. Harvest on many dryland acres will not occur until after the first killing freeze. Several counties (Glasscock, Scurry, Nolan, and Tom Green) established harvest aid tests and the data will be provided to you by mid-December.
The ginning date for District 6 is November 15 and 16 and for District 7 the ginning dates are November 27 and 28. If you can assist in ginning cotton for District 6 this year please contact David Kite. If you can assist in ginning cotton for District 7 please contact me. We usually need four people to get the job done. I need to let all the cotton producing counties know who is going so they can make the necessary arrangements to drop off their gin samples. Attached is a blank gin sheet that will need to be filled out and sent with your cotton samples. The seven digit sample number is a combination of three numbers; the county number is the first three digits, the producer or plot number is digits 4 and 5, and the sample is assigned a number between 01 and 99 which makes up digits 6 and 7. By using this code it helps to keep samples from getting lost. Try to have your gin samples between 600 and 650 grams. Thanks.
Shown are weed pictures taken in our Region.
On November 6, a three hour (6 to 9 p.m.) CEU course will be held at Sweetwater.
On November 8, a CEU course for Structural Pest Control Licensees will be held at Abilene.
On November 12, 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.
On November 20, a six hour (8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.) CEU course will be held at Eldorado.
On December 6, a five hour CEU course will be held at Brady.
On December 13, a five hour CEU course will be held at the Abilene Civic Center. This training is being hosted by the City of Abilene, the Texas Cooperative Extension, and the Texas Department of Agriculture. For more details and to register for the meeting call Gary Bomar at (915) 672-6048.
November 2, Tom Green County, Teleconference
November 5, District Office, Office Conference
November 5, Glasscock County, Conservation-Tillage Planning Meeting
November 6, Nolan County, CEU Course
November 12 - 14, Brazos County, Texas Weed Information Group Meeting
November 15 & 16, Potter County, 4-H Foundation Meeting
November 20, Schleicher County, CEU Course
November 22 & 23, Holiday
November 27 & 28, Lubbock County, Gin Cotton
December 3, District Office, Office Conference
December 3, Tom Green County, Friends of Extension Luncheon
December 4 & 5, Brown County, TAEXSA Board Meeting
December 6, McCulloch County, Multi-County CEU Meeting
December 11, Bell County, CEA Training on Result Demonstrations
December 13, Taylor County, CEU Course
December 21 - 31, Potter, Randall, & Deaf Smith Counties, Christmas Holiday
| Sincerely,
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