Bt Cotton Survey and Flood Damage

Howdy,

  I hope everyone is doing well after the hurricane. Since the season has pretty well wrapped up, I put together a survey for the crop consultants and farmers to gather a little more information on the bollworm situation this past year. If you get a chance, I'd appreciate your input. The survey gathers data anonymously, so the only info I'll be able to see is the info you give me.

Click here to take the survey

  For those of you not in the areas affected by the hurricane, I attached a few pictures from some of the flood damaged areas to give you an idea of what we've been dealing with. I'm just glad that the pictures don't include the smell, I wouldn't want to share that with anybody. The pictures below were taken in multiple locations near the Colorado River.

Cotton on the plant after flooding
Photo: Kate Harrell

Cotton on the plant after flooding
Photo: Kate Harrell

Cotton on the plant after flooding
Photo: Kate Harrell

Dead fish in a cotton field
Photo: Kate Harrell

Flood damaged round bales
Photo: Kate Harrell 

Flood damaged modules
Photo: Kate Harrell

Flood damaged module with sprouting, algae, and mold
Photo: Kate Harrell

Flood damaged module with sprouting, algae, and mold
Photo: Kate Harrell

Flood damaged module with mud and mushrooms growing
Photo: Kate Harrell

  As always, feel free to give me a call or send me an email if you have any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Kate Harrell

Cotton and Grain Risk Management Workshop

Cotton, grain risk management workshop October 19th at Wharton Fairgrounds

Corrie Bowen

County Extension Agent

Wharton County

A cotton and grain risk management marketing workshop is scheduled Thursday, Oct. 19 at the Wharton County Fairgrounds in Crescent, Texas.  The Wharton County Fairgrounds is located at 6036 FM 961 Rd. Registration begins at 8 a.m.  First presentation at 8:15 a.m

The workshop is sponsored by the Wharton County AgriLife Extension Office and the Wharton County Row Crops Committee.

“This is an excellent opportunity to be briefed on the need for budgeting, crop insurance choices, outlook and making marketing plans for the next crop year,” said Mac Young, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service program specialist, Corpus Christi.

The following is a schedule of speakers and topics:

–       Budgeting decision tools: Determining break-even and costs of production, Young.

–       U.S. Department of Agriculture Risk Management Agency Update, Francie Tolle, regional office director, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

–       2018 Crop Insurance Choices, Tom Kelly, Wiese Crop Insurance.

–       Crop Insurance Decision Tool, Dr. Steven Klose, AgriLife Extension economist, College Station.

–       Developing a Management Plan: Incorporating Insurance into Production and Farm Plan, Dr. Mark Welch,   AgriLife Extension grain marketing economist, College Station.

–       Cotton Outlook, Dr. John Robinson, AgriLife Extension cotton marketing economist, College Station.

–       Grain Outlook, Marketing Tools and Strategies, Welch.

The workshop will conclude at 2:00 p.m. 

Please RSVP by calling Stacey at 979-532-3310 by 12 noon on Wednesday, October 18^th.

Ag Producer Disaster Recovery Program

October 5, 2017 – Ag Producer Disaster Recovery Program to be held in Wharton

By Corrie Bowen

County Extension Agent

Wharton County

On Thursday, October 5, 2017 at 2:00 p.m., USDA and the Wharton County Office of Texas A&M AgriLife Extension will be holding a Disaster Recovery Program.  The program will begin at 2:00 p.m. at the Wharton County Fairgrounds, in the Directors Room.  Agriculture Producers affected by Hurricane Harvey will want to attend this program to learn about available disaster assistance for agriculture producers.  The program will begin with Mr. David Daniels, Natural Resource Manager discussing disaster assistance programs available through the Natural Resource Conservation Service.  Mr. Chase Tyndell, County Executive Director with the Farm Services Agency will cover disaster assistance programs available through USDA-FSA.  Gail Hoskins, Farm Loan Manager will follow with information on the USDA Farm Loan Program.  Applications and an overview of other types  of disaster assistance available through Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers, Texas Farm Bureau, and the Texas Department of Agriculture will be made available.  To conclude the program, Dr. Joe Paschal, Extension Livestock Specialist will address management of cattle and storm damaged forages.  If you will be attending the County Extension Offices asks that you contact us by 12 noon on October 5^th  by contacting Stacey at 979-532-3310.  We just want to have an idea of how many participants to prepare handouts.

Sugarcane Aphid Conference

Howdy,

  I hope everyone is recovering from Harvey well. Our extension office is involved in the Rebuild Texas initiative with the Governor's commission, so if you need information on debris cleanup, please check out this pdf.

  In more IPM related news, Dr. Bowling shared some information on the upcoming sugarcane aphid conference in Corpus Christi, which I have included below. I hope you will be able to attend. As always, let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Kate Harrell

Sugarcane Aphid Management Conference/ Webinar

The Texas A&M Agrilife Research and Extension Center in Corpus Christi, TX will be hosting a sugarcane aphid management conference/webinar on September 26, 2017 from 8:30 a.m. to noon.

Topics

This conference will focus on summaries of sugarcane aphid research in south Texas over the past two years including:

• Sampling
• Threshold updates
• Insecticide options
• Hybrid tolerance
• Updates on areawide management

Special Invited Guest & Speakers

Dr. Brent Bean, Director of Agronomy for the United Sorghum Checkoff Program, will present a sugarcane aphid impact brief across U.S. sorghum production regions. Additional speakers from Texas A&M AgriLife Extension and Research will highlight local activities, in collaboration with United Sorghum, Texas Grain Sorghum Board, and the USDA ARS Areawide IPM Program.

How to Attend

You can attend the conference at 10345 TX-44, Corpus Christi, or online via webinar. The link for the webinar is https://texasrangeclassroom.adobeconnect.com/coastalbend. Attendees need to type in their name in the guest field and Click on Enter the Room button.  

It is recommended to run a system check prior to participating in the meeting by accessing the following link  https://na3cps.adobeconnect.com/common/help/en/support/meeting_test.htm to check the system. It is important to pass Steps 1 thru 3.

Contact your local county extension office or Robert Bowling (Robert.bowling@ag.tamu.edu) or Roxanne Peeples (Roxanne.peeples@ag.tamu.edu) at (361) 265-9201 for more details.

Texas A&M Agrilife Research and Extension Center Corpus Christ location

Or access the following link for directions:

https://goo.gl/3pYPB2

South Texas Sugarcane Aphid Management Conference/Webinar

Texas A&M Agrilife Research and Extension Center – Corpus Christi, TX

September 26, 2017

• Lunch for those interested in a round table discussion/review of projects
• After lunch session with A&M personnel only.

Whiteflies

Howdy,

  Harvest has been going on great in the upper gulf coast. I've seen and heard about good corn, milo, and cotton yields this year. We've had a few disagreements with the weather and its behavior lately, but otherwise it’s been going well.

  I've been seeing whiteflies in some of our later planted cotton. As everything is being defoliated or drying down, these insects are moving into the areas that are still green. Whiteflies reproduce rapidly, they reach reproductive maturity in about 15 days, and the adults live and reproduce for 2-3 weeks. The adults are small white, flying insects, while the nymphs look more like scale insects. The first stage nymph is called a crawler and is the only mobile stage of the immature whitefly. After the nymph molts the first time, it will remain feeding in the same place, and look much like a scale insect.

Whitefly Adults and Large Nymphs
Photo from Cotton Bugs

Whitefly Adults
Photo: Kate Harrell

Whitefly Nymphs
Photo: Kate Harrell

  The main concern with these insects is the honeydew they produce. The honeydew can drip into the cotton lint and cause sticky cotton, leading to issues with ginning, staining, and reducing lint quality. Heavy honeydew also fosters the growth of mold, which can cause problems with defoliation as well as staining lint.

  If you're only a few days from defoliating and are seeing adults and 20-30 large nymphs per leaf, defoliating soon should be a suitable solution, but keep an eye out for new populations on regrowth.

  If you have more than 20-30 adults and large nymphs present, and have eggs and smaller nymphs as well, you may need to consider treatment options. When the populations of these insects get really high, they become much more difficult to control. 

  Current treatment recommendations include:

• Acetamaprid (intruder or generic) at 2.3 oz/acre

• Sivanto at 10.5- 14 fl oz/acre

• Oberon at 8-16 oz/acre

• Centric at 2.5 oz/acre, but this is the weakest treatment option

  As always, give me a call or send me an email or text if you have questions or concerns. Have a good week and good luck harvesting, everyone!

For more information on whiteflies, check out:

The Cotton Bugs Website

Defoliation Field Day Cancelled

Howdy,

Due to the weather, the Cotton Defoliation Field Day has been cancelled. We held out as long as we could and it was dry until 10 minutes ago. So, the Field Day that was scheduled for today at 1:00 p.m. has been cancelled.

Thanks!

Defoliation Field Day

Monday, August 7^th - Cotton Defoliation Field Day

By Corrie Bowen

County Extension Agent – Wharton County

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension in Wharton Counties will be hosting a cotton defoliation in Wharton on Monday, August 7, 2017 at 1:00 p.m..  A replicated research plot was sprayed on July 28th in Wharton  that has both one-shot and follow-up treatments to compare to commonly used combinations.  Viewing and evaluating this plot will give producers an idea of what to expect regarding leaf drop and opening of bolls this year.  Dr. Gaylon Morgan, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension State Cotton Specialist, will be available to discuss the performance of the thirteen defoliation treatments being evaluated.  There is no charge to attend the field day.  One (1) General CEU will be offered for Texas Department of Agriculture Pesticide License Holders.  The Wharton County cotton defoliation turn row meeting will be held from 1  p.m. to 2 p.m  on CR 428 in Wharton. From the Colorado River on Business 59 in Wharton, travel south west on Business 59 for 1.3 Miles.  Turn left onto CR 448, and immediately cross the railroad tracks.  After the railroad tracks, turn right.  Follow CR 448 for 1 mile.  Turn left on CR 428.  Go 8/10 of a mile and the defoliation plot will be on your left. A flyer with a map for the Wharton County Cotton Defoliation Field Day can be found by clicking on EVENTS at http://wharton.agrilfe.org.  For any questions about the Wharton Cotton Defoliation Field Day, contact Stacey at the Wharton County Extension Office at (979) 532-3310.

Neonicotinoids

Howdy,

  I'd like to let everyone know that the comment periods for clothianidin and thiamethoxam's preliminary pollinator assesment, and imidicloprid's aquatic ecological assessment are currently open. The focus is mainly on foliar applied neonicotinoids and not seed treatments. Producers, your comments are valuable. If you've got time, use the following links and click "comment".

Imidicloprid: https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0844-1090

Clothianidin: https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=EPA-HQ-OPP-2011-0865-0180

Thiamethoxam: https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=EPA-HQ-OPP-2011-0581-0044

Dinotefuran: https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=EPA-HQ-OPP-2011-0920-0017

  Grain across the three counties is mostly drying down, and we are continuing to see bollworms moving over to cotton from corn and sorghum.
  This week we've been seeing some bollworms in fields still, keeping with the pattern of high egg lay and some damage with few worms. If you've got more than 8-12 worms in 100 plants and 5% damaged bolls, consider treatment. Again, if you're seeing high numbers of caterpillars older than two days, give me a call. I still have some diet cups to mail caterpillars to College Station for resistance testing.
  There have been stink bugs occasionally across the area, once cotton gets to NAWF= 5 + 450 DD60s, stop sampling and treating. As cotton gets closer to cut out, the threshold for stink bugs can increase. Our cotton doesn't keep blooming for 8 weeks as is mentioned on the chart, but for the final week of bloom, it would be wise to use either the 50 to 30% threshold.

  Most of the later replanted cotton in Wharton county is close to peak bloom, while the rest in all three counties hovers from 6-8 nodes above white flower to nearly at cutout. The spotty showers we got over the past week hit Jackson and Matagorda county more than Wharton county. A few places in Matagorda county I heard got up to 7 inches of rain.

Spotted Lady Beetle in Cotton Bloom
Photo: Kate Harrell

I hope everyone has a good weekend and a happy 4th of July.

Sincerely,

Kate

For more information check out:

Danielle Sekula's Pest Cast

Stephen Biles Mid-Coast IPM

Robert Bowling's Rolling with Bowling

Bollworms and Bees

Howdy,

  This week we've been seeing bollworm egg lay on the rise. So far most of the worms have been very small, between newly hatched and a day or two old. The damage has been mostly to squares and smaller bolls. Caterpillars closer to the one in the photo are easier to find in the blooms. This caterpillar probably fed in the bloom tag and then chewed his way into the boll through the flower. The hole in the very end of the boll is fairly indicative of that behavior. The flowers have low expression of the Bt genes, and caterpillars that start feeding there have the opportunity to grow larger before chewing into the fruit. If you're finding more than 8 to 12 worms in 100 plants and 5% damaged bolls, consider treatment. Also, if you are seeing higher numbers of caterpillars older than 2 days, give me a call. I've got diet cups to collect caterpillars to send to A&M for resistance testing.

Bollworm
Photo: Kate Harrell

  I found a honey bee swarm south of El Campo this week. Honey bees swarm like this when moving to start a new hive. The queen is down in the middle of the swarm, and they cover her up like this to protect her. This swarm was probably stopping to rest before moving on to a more suitable location for a new hive. When honey bees are doing this, they are incredibly docile. If you've seen the photo of the "bee beard", this is how they get that to work. They placed the queen on the person's face, and the workers covered her up. It's best to leave them alone if you find a swarm like this. They'll move on once they've rested.

Honey Bee Swarm
Photo: Kate Harrell

Give me or our office a call if you have questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Kate

Looking for more information? Check out:

Texas A&M Cotton Guide- Bollworms

Danielle Sekula's Pest Cast

Stephen Biles' Mid Coast IPM

Bollworms

Howdy,

  This week we've been finding some stink bugs and some bollworms in cotton in all three counties. Currently we are mostly finding damage and newly hatched larvae. As the grain continues to dry down, expect to see more moths moving around. Bollworm eggs are small, round, generally singly laid, and have ridges meeting at the top of the egg. These insects are highly cannibalistic, and will eat each other if more than one larvae is on a leaf. The photo below has two eggs, but I would count this as one egg while scouting, since only one of those would live long enough to feed on the plant. The eggs can be found anywhere on the plant, generally on the tops of leaves. This week we have found more eggs in the mid canopy. Sometimes eggs are even laid on flowers and bloom tags. We're still finding stink bugs in cotton as well. This week we found a few nymphs in Jackson and Matagorda counties.

Bollworm Eggs
Photo: Kate Harrell

  Some of the cotton around has begun to get a little long in the internodes since the rain we got a couple weeks ago. The best time to use a plant growth regulator (PGR), mepiquat chloride (MC), is dependent on plant height and internode length. Plant height should be 30 to 35 inches in 30 inch rows, and in 40 inch rows should be no more than 40 to 45 inches. Optimum plant height should be predicted using row width multiplied by 1.1. MC suppresses stem elongation in newly formed internodes by up to 50% of normal growth. The minimum MC concentration in the plant necessary to provide a maximum level of reduction is 12- 15 ppm per acre, but internodes will not grow shorter than 50% of the normal length with higher rates. Before the plant has reached 15 to 20 days past first bloom, measure the top 5 internodes. If the internodes are 1.4" or less, no MC should be applied. If the internodes are between 1.4" and 1.6", treatment is optional. Treatment is optional in internodes measuring between 1.6" and 1.8", but if it has rained recently or you are planning to irrigate, treatment is recommended. If the internodes are longer than 1.8", MC should be applied. Check out this article for more information on PGRs.
  Headworms and stinkbugs are in sorghum right now. The best way to scout for damage from these insects is to use a bucket. Rattle a grain head around in a bucket to see what falls off of it. Adult stink bugs will fly, often very quickly after being knocked from the plant, so be aware of anything taking off when you go to look in the bucket. Folks in all three counties have been treating for stink bugs lately, but the earlier planted sorghum is hardening enough to be past the point of concern. Check out the rice stink bug calculator and the sorghum headworm calculator to check economic threshold levels.

Lady Beetle Eggs

  This week's bug of the week is the lady beetle. Recently I have given a few presentations on differentiating between good and bad bugs, and was surprised at the number of folks that had not seen lady beetle eggs before. Lady beetles lay brightly colored, yellow, oval eggs, in little groups or rows. The photo above shows typically laid lady beetle eggs.

  Give me a call if you have questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Kate


For more information check out:

Danielle Sekula's Pest Cast

Stephen Biles' IPM Update

Robert Bowling's Rolling with Bowling

Texas Sugarcane Aphid News

Texas Row Crops Newsletter

Using Mepiquat Chloride on the Texas Coast to Reduce Cotton Plant Height