December 21, 2001

Wheat

When I was traveling to Temple December 10th you would have thought that it was mid-November from all the wheat planting and cotton harvesting that was occurring. The rainfall received was needed for building up soil moisture, however it did delay several farming practices. The impact of this delay will result in a few phone calls from producers to you. Most likely questions to expect:

1. How long will this take my small grain to germinate and emerge? With these cool temperatures it will take several weeks for the newly planted acreage to obtain a green cast to it.
2. Why are my plants purple? Due to the cool soil temperatures and the slow plant growth the uptake of phosphorus will be slow and the red to purple coloration will be primarily due to nutrient deficiency. Don't rule out the impact of the aphids on this young wheat which puts it under stress resulting in the red to purple coloration.
3. Why isn't the wheat tillering? Tillering is faster when soil temperature is warm and soil moisture and nutrient levels are good–we have the soil moisture but lack the other factors needed. The impact of this will be apparent next spring when the number of tillers per plant will be less than desired.
4. I have a lot of weeds what should I do? The cool air temperatures and slow plant growth will reduce the performance of the herbicides applied. Target herbicide application based on the small grain growth stage, as soon as the minimum growth stage is reached apply the product that will control the targeted weed.

You can expect the root development of this late planted small grain to be low. This will make the plants vulnerable to hot, dry, windy conditions in the spring.

Cotton

By now all of the cotton producing counties, that sent samples to Lubbock for ginning last month, should have received their summary of lint yield and quality. I sent it in a format that can be retrieved directly into WordPerfect. I put the table information into HTML format for review from the web for those interested in the results (Howard County 1 and 2, Mitchell County, Runnels County, Scurry County, and Tom Green County 1 and 2). When you finish your result demonstration report, that contains the production information obtained from the producer, I would appreciate it if you would send me a copy by e-mail. Thanks.

The Beltwide Cotton Conference will be held in Atlanta, Georgia January 8 - 12, 2002. This is an excellent meeting for increasing your knowledge about cotton production. The Tuesday and Wednesday programs are more producer oriented.

Pesticide Recertification Training

On Monday January 14, 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.

Monthly Calendar

The demand for time in 2002 is already apparent. We have several outstanding meetings already in development. Chris Sansone and I are currently developing plans for result demonstration work for 2002. If you need assistance in planning a demonstration for your county, please let us know. It is important to give us plenty of lead time when help is needed in securing materials.

December 2001

December 21 - 31, Potter, Randall, & Deaf Smith Counties, Christmas Holiday

January 2002

January 2, District Office, Office Conference

January 9 - 12, Atlanta Georgia, Beltwide Cotton Conference

January 15, San Saba County, Master Gardeners

January 16, Brazos County, Committee Meeting

January 18, Tom Green County, Professional Ag Workers

January 21, Dawson County, Southern Mesa Ag Conference

January 21, Haskell County, Soils and Soil Fertility Program

January 21, Taylor County, Wheat Conference Planning Meeting

January 23, Midland County, Master Gardeners

January 24, Howard County, Master Gardeners

February 2002

February 3 - 6, Travis County, Texas Physiology Work Group

February 14 & 15, Bexar County, 4-H Foundation Meeting

February 19 & 20, Taylor County, Cotton and Conservation Tillage Program

Also, I want to take the opportunity try out some different fonts:

Seasons Greetings (Bremen Bd BT)
Happy Holidays (Highlight LET)
Good Bye 2001 (Jokerman LET)
Hello 2002 (Tiranti Solid LET)
Happy New Year (Victorian LET)
Best Wishes to You and Your Family (La Bamba LET)