Howdy all, 

I'd like to share this notice from our local USDA office on the NRCS Local Working Group meeting to be held on February 19, 2019.

Auxin Trainings

Howdy,

If anyone needs an additional Certified Crop Advisor CEU, read this article and take the quiz linked in the article.

If you need auxin herbicide trainings, check out the information below.

Series of auxin herbicide trainings for area producers set for February - April

By Corrie Bowen

County Extension Agent

Wharton County

The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service will conduct a series of Auxin Trainings for producers in the Wharton and Matagorda County area from February – April 2019.  This special, annual training that was required  last year for the new dicamba formulations applied on tolerant cotton and soybean crops,  will now be a two-hour training.  In addition to the EPA mandated dicamba applicator training, the Texas Department of Agriculture has added 2,4-D Choline formulations (Enlist Duo® and Enlist One) for use on 2,4-D tolerant crops to be included in the annual mandatory auxin trainings. The two hour 2019 mandated Auxin Training will include the following topics:  1) why do auxin herbicides require additional precautions, 2) label requirements for approved auxin formulations, 3) understanding temperature inversions, 4) spray system hygiene, 5) record keeping, and 6) using dicamba and 2,4-D in a weed management system. 

The extended dicamba labels for 2019-2020 include changes to ensure the new dicamba technology products continue to be used effectively and to address concerns about off-target movement.  New for 2019-2020, dicamba technology herbicide applications will be limited to certified applicators only.  Some of these new changes may be different before the 2019 growing season pending 24C requests that have been submitted to the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA).  Upon approval, the 24c labels will be available on the Texas Department of Ag website (www.texasagriculture.gov/RegulatoryPrograms/Pesticides).

The Enlist products are State Limited Use pesticides in Texas.  In contrast to the dicamba technology products, the Enlist products can be sold to and used by certified applicators or those working under the supervision of a certified applicator. 

The training is not required for those using range and pasture labeled dicamba and/or 2,4-D products.  The Auxin Specific Herbicide training is an annual training.  Completion of the annual Auxin training is not required to purchase seed or chemistry, it is only required annually, prior to applying Engenia, Xtendimax, Fexapan, EnlistOne and/or EnlistDuo  herbicides.  

The Wharton and Matagorda County Extension Offices have arranged a series of dates, times and locations for the Extension Auxin trainings.  Pick a date and time that is conducive to your schedule:

February 21, 2019	2:00 P - 4:00 P	Matagorda County Extension Office
February 28, 2019	9:00 A - 11:00 A	Wharton County Extension Office
March 7, 2019	9:00 A - 11:00 A	Wharton County Extension Office
March 21, 2019	2:00 P - 4:00 P	Matagorda County Extension Office
March 28, 2019	9:00 A - 11:00 A	Wharton County Extension Office
April 4, 2019	9:00 A - 11:00 A	Matagorda County Extension Office
April 11, 2019	9:00 A - 11:00 A	Wharton County Extension Office
April 18, 2019	9:00 A - 11:00 A	Northside Education Center—El Campo
April 25, 2019	9:00 A - 11:00 A	Matagorda County Extension Office

Each program will last two hours and will provide two (2) Texas Department of Agriculture laws and regulations continuing education units (CEUs) and will meet the annual Auxin training requirement for 2019.  An applicator or operator must attend only one of these available trainings in 2019.  We reached 148 pesticide applicators at the Feed Grain and Cotton Conference with the required Auxin training, however, there will be more cotton and soybean producers who will need to complete this annual training.  Therefore, we’re providing these nine trainings through April 25th.  We’ll continue to provide these trainings through the growing season as needed .  A flyer for this series of Auxin Trainings can be found at http://wharton.agrilife.org  For any questions regarding the Auxin trainings, contact Corrie Bowen at 979-532-3310 or Aaron Sumrall at 979-245-4100.

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Upcoming Conferences

Howdy everyone,

  Please check out the flyers below for the details on the upcoming Western Rice Belt Production Conference and the Upper Gulf Coast Grain Handlers Conference.

RACE Trial Results

Howdy all,

The cotton variety test results are available, feel free to check them out here.

Kate

Stalk Destruction Deadline Extension and Upcoming Programs

Howdy,

  I was recently notified that TDA has decided to grant the cotton stalk destruction deadline for all of Pest Management Zone 3 until December 1, 2018. The deadline was extended due to the above average rainfall received during the last several weeks that has delayed field operations.

  Pest Management Zone 3 consists of Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Colorado, Fayette, Fort Bend, Galveston, Gonzales, Harris, Jackson, Jefferson, Lavaca, Liberty, Matagorda, Orange, Waller, and Wharton counties.

   Additionally, TDA has decided to deny the extension requests for Zone 6, Zone 8 Area 1, and Zone 8 Area 2.  The recent cold spell in these zones has rendered the remaining cotton non-hostable. 

  

  Section 20.22 of the Texas Administrative Code provides that the Department may grant a blanket extension of the destruction deadline covering an entire cotton stalk destruction zone or a portion of an entire zone under certain circumstances.

We also have a few programs coming up, please check out the flyers for those below.

November Programs

Howdy everyone,

  We have two programs coming up soon, a Cotton and Grain Risk Management and Marketing Workshop in Jackson county, and the Agricultural Pesticide Waste Collection in Wharton county. Check out our flyers below for more information on these events.

Stalk Destruction and Section 18

Howdy all,

  I wanted to keep everyone up to date on a couple of things our office recieved updates on in the last two days. First, the cotton stalk destruction deadline for our zone has been extended to November 17.

TDA Blanket Extension of Cotton Stalk Destruction Deadline for Pest Management Zone 3

The Texas Department of Agriculture has received written requests to extend the cotton stalk destruction deadline for Zone 3.  This requests has come from the Cotton Producer Advisory Committee for Zone 3. 

After consideration of this request the Department has decided to grant the cotton stalk destruction deadline extension for all of Pest Management Zone 3 until November 17, 2018. 

Pest Management Zone 3 consists of Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Colorado, Fayette, Fort Bend, Galveston, Gonzales, Harris, Jackson, Jefferson, Lavaca, Liberty, Matagorda, Orange, Waller, and Wharton counties.

Basis for Extension

Pest Management Zone 3 has received repeated above average rainfall for the last several weeks and current weather predictions indicate additional rainfall, which will continue to delay field operations.

Authority

Section 20.22 of the Texas Administrative Code provides that the Department may grant a blanket extension of the destruction deadline covering an entire cotton stalk destruction zone or a portion of an entire zone under certain circumstances. 

Please see the Department’s Blanket Extension Summary Table for your information. The following link shows the cotton stalk destruction map with zones and destruction deadlines.

http://texasagriculture.gov/Portals/0/images/ACP/Cotton/CSD%20Zones%20300%20dpi.pdf  

  Second, the rice delphacid is an exotic planthopper species we found attacking the ratoon rice crop again this year in Matagorda county. It was seen in this area in 2015 for the first time. The insect transmits the Rice Hoja Blanca virus, but we have not seen any transmission of the virus here yet. We have seen heavy honeydew and sooty mold as well as hopper burn from feeding. Look here and here for more information.

Damage on rice from the rice delphacid
Photo: Kate Harrell

Rice delphacid adults, nymphs, shed exuvia, and sooty mold on rice
Photo: Kate Harrell

I heard from our extension rice specialist, Dr. Mo Way, that we have been granted a section 18 emergency exemption to use Endigo ZC to control this insect in Texas until November 9. Please review the section 18 label for use below.

As always, give us a call at the office or shoot me an email if you have questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Kate

Zone 3 Cotton Stalk Destruction Deadline October 31

By Corrie Bowen

County Extension Agent

Wharton County

A recent recommendation for a change to the Zone 3 pest management

zone was considered by the Texas Department of agriculture, as approved by a majority vote of the Zone 3 Cotton Producer Advisory Committee.  This change in Zone 3 and the respective cotton stalk destruction date became effective on September 13, 2018.  These changes are reflected in the Texas Administrative Code, Chapter 20 Cotton Pest Control http://texasagriculture.gov/Portals/0/images/ACP/Cotton/Ch20Cotton_2018-09-13.pdf

The Zone 3 Pest Management and Cotton Stalk Destruction Zone now comprises the following Texas Counties:  Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Colorado, Fayette, Fort Bend, Galveston, Gonzales, Harris, Jackson, Jefferson, Lavaca, Liberty, Matagorda, Orange, Waller and Wharton. The cotton stalk destruction date for these Zone 3 counties is October 31^st.  The mission of the Cotton Stalk Destruction program is to suppress boll weevil and pink bollworm populations in Texas.  For more details on the TDA Cotton Stalk Destruction regulatory program go to

http://www.texasagriculture.gov/RegulatoryPrograms/CottonStalkDestruction.aspx

From the destruction deadline of October 31^st until the end date for destruction requirements (new cotton crop emergence), all cotton plants in  Pest Management Zone 3 shall be non-hostable. 

Corrie Bowen, MS

County Extension Agent - Agriculture

Wharton County

315 E. Milam, Suite 112

Wharton, Texas 77488

(979) 532-3310

Howdy,

  All the cotton I've looked at this week is past cutout (5 nodes above white flower) and a good number of fields have open bolls. I've been seeing the bollworm (H. zea, corn ear worm, etc.) egg lay decreasing, and most of the larvae are cycling out. Last week I spent a good deal of time collecting bollworms out of double traited and one vip traited field. Those bollworms have been sent to the lab in College Station for Bt resistance testing.

Large Cotton Bollworm in Cry 1Ab + Cry 2Ac Cotton

Photo: Kate Harrell

Treatment options for Cotton Bollworm in Cotton

Managing Cotton Insects - Page 31

  In places still susceptible to bollworms, it's important to be checking for them even if you have Bt cotton. There is no threshold set for egg lay (since they have to feed for Bt to effect them and many other insects consume eggs), but our adapted threshold for caterpillars after last year is 6% damaged bolls or squares with live caterpillars present. When cotton reaches cutout (5 NAWF), it has 350 heat units remaining before the bollworms can no longer cause yield loss.

Stink Bug
Photo: Kate Harrell

Carpal Warts in Cotton
Photo: Kate Harrell

  In the places that are still susceptible to stink bugs, the threshold for stink bugs is 20% of bolls damaged with stink bugs present. Once cotton has reached 450 heat units past cutout, treatment for stink bugs may no longer be necessary, as the bolls they can still feed on will not mature in time to contribute to the overall yield. Fields that experienced drought stress this year may have a longer time frame for yield loss to occur, and stink bugs may still need to be a consideration until 450 heat units past 3 or 4 NAWF.

Hope everyone has a great weekend and safe grain harvest!

Sincerely,

Kate

For more information check out:

Texas Row Crop Newsletter

Managing Cotton Insects in Texas

 Wharton - AgriLife Extension to host a Cotton Turn Row Meeting – July 17th

 By Corrie Bowen

County Extension Agent

Wharton County

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, Wharton and Matagorda County Offices will host a Cotton Turn Row Meeting on Tuesday, July 17, 2018 in Wharton.  Registration will begin at the Directors Room at the Wharton County Fairgrounds at 8:30 a.m.  Program to begin at 9:00 a.m. with an overview of the 2018  Cotton Crop.  We’ll then proceed to our Replicated Agronomic Cotton Evaluation (RACE) trial where we’ll hear from Dr. Gaylon Morgan, Extension Cotton Specialist with discussion on cotton varieties and late season issues.  Dr. Scott Nolte, Extension Weed Specialist will follow with discussion on minimizing off-target herbicide movement.  By 11 a.m. we’ll return to the Directors Room where Greg Baker with discuss Worker Protection Standard requirements for pesticide workers and handlers. 

The WPS is a federal regulation originally enacted in 1992 designed to protect agricultural workers (people involved in the production of agricultural plants) and pesticide handlers (people mixing, loading, or applying pesticides or doing other tasks involving direct contact with pesticides). You probably need to comply with the WPS if you are a:  Manager or owner of a farm, forest, nursery, or greenhouse; or Labor contractor for a farm, forest, nursery, or greenhouse; or  Custom (for hire) pesticide applicator or independent crop consultant hired by a farm, forest, nursery, or greenhouse operator.  The EPA made significant revisions to the WPS provisions that became effective January 2, 2018.  Most WPS provisions are protections that you, as an employer, must provide for your own employees and, in some instances, to yourself. The WPS covers two types of employers, which it defines according to the type of work their employees do.  Bring your farm employees (agricultural workers and/or pesticide handlers) to the July 17th Turn-Row meeting, as the WPS training at 11 a.m. will satisfy the annual WPS training.  The WPS training video will be provided in English.  Please contact the Wharton County Extension office prior to July 17th at 979-532-3310 if you have employees attending who will need to view the Spanish version of the WPS training.

Program will conclude at noon.  3 CEUs will be offered for TDA pesticide license holders and 3 CCA credits have been applied for.  Please call the Extension Office by  5:00 p.m. on July 16 just to let us know that you’ll be attending.  A flyer  for the July 17th turn-row meeting is available at https://wharton.agrilife.org.

The members of Texas A&M AgriLife will provide equal opportunities in programs and activities, education, and employment to all persons regardless of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, sexual orientation or gender identity and will strive to achieve full and equal employment opportunity throughout Texas A&M AgriLife. The Texas A&M University System, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the County Commissioners Courts of Texas Cooperating.  Individuals with disabilities who require an auxiliary aid, service or accommodation in order to participate in any Extension activity, are encouraged to contact the County Extension Office for assistance 5 days prior to the activity.