Peanut Money-Maker: It's name says it all

Every year, South Carolina Peanut Extension Specialist Jay Chapin issues his Peanut Money-Maker Production Guide. Among all the peanut-related documents we offer our readers, this is the one that people download the most.

Jay's objective every year is to lay out a program and suggestions that could reasonably result in a 2-ton yield, which partly explains why the guide is so universally popular.

A couple of our peanut readers already have asked if it would be available this year. Usually by now we've already posted it on our home page. But Clemson University has been reworking its own web site, and Jay's annual guide has just now popped onto the site.

Click here to download this year's guide.

- Owen Taylor

Off Topic: The unofficial state movie of Mississippi (and what's yours?)

As a diversion, state legislatures go on sprees of declaring "official state" things. During a brief stint as a political writer in Nashville in the mid 1970s I watched lawmakers consider tagging various flora, fauna and other non-persons with the "official state" prefix. As I recall, the firefly was named an official state insect that year (Tennessee has more than one).

One young lawmaker, making light of the whole thing, entered a bill naming the oldest member of the state senate as the "official state fossil." The elder statesman was not amused.

What I've never seen anywhere is a state with an official movie.

Here in Mississippi, I would nominate O' Brother, Where Art Thou?, the 2000 comedy from the brothers Coen, Joel and Ethan.

It already ranks in my mind as Mississippi's unofficial state movie. People who've watched it more than once almost invariably have their favorite lines.

It's a comedy, but the whole premise sounds anything but funny: 3 convicts escape from a chaingang, seeking an alleged treasure, all of it set during the Depression in hardscrabble rural Mississippi in the midst of a gubernatorial election. Oh, and did I mention that it's a retelling of The Odyssey by Homer?

But funny, it is.

My personal favorite line comes from the scene in the stolen car when the escapees have just picked up Tommy Johnson, the bluesman. Tommy admits to having sold his soul to the devil the night before. As it happens, 2 of the escaped convicts, Pete and Delmar, had just stumbled into a riverside baptism service and, being caught up in the fervor, were submersed, themselves.

The third escapee, Ulysses, played to the pop-eyed hilt by George Clooney, declares:

"I seem to be the only one who's currently unaffiliated."

That's my favorite.

I"ve heard other people say that their favorite lines are, among others:

• "I'm with you fellers."
• "She done R-U-N-N-O-F-T."
• "Is this the road to Ittie Beenie?"
• "Watch your language, young feller, this is a public market!" and, related to that, "I'm a Dapper Dan man."
• "Hot Damn! It's the Soggy Bottom Boys!"
• "Oh, George, not the livestock!"
• "I didn't seem to be needin' it."
• "Well, ain't this just a geographical oddity!"

Granted, none of those seem funny if you haven't watched the movie. But in context, they are memorable gems and rank right up there with round up all the usual suspects and I'll worry about that tomorrow as dialog that people will recite decades from now.

Most states don't have such a close enough tie to a movie that anyone would want to make it an "official" part of the state's symbolism.

Maybe folks in Georgia would point to Gone With The Wind as a nostalgic favorite. Having the state's name in the title is no cinch. I don't think the citizens of one western state would want to enshrine the 1954 yarn Cattle Queen Of Montana as its celluloid icon.

If I lived in Texas, I would throw my weight behind Giant, the 1956 drama that tells of the state's evolving economy and gradually shifting social outlook. A writer with Texas Monthly several years ago, in fact, did declare it to be the unofficial state movie of Texas. Many people in the power structure of Texas actually hated Giant when it first came out, the article noted. But then it kind of took hold and in many ways portrayed the state as its natives would want the rest of the world to see it. Rough and tough but progressive and forward looking, full of adventure, opportunity and, yes, romance. And don't forget the wide open spaces.

I guess that would be the hallmark of an official state movie: a story that would show the world who we think we are as a people. Mississippi could do worse than O' Brother.

But past Mississippi and Texas, I can't think of any other state that has that sort of relationship to a piece of cinema. I don't mean to slight my friends in other parts of America, but tell me what would be the state movie of Arkansas or California, Alabama or New York?

Any further suggestions about Mississippi -- or elsewhere?

- Owen Taylor

J. G. Boswell was anything but a simple cowboy

On our web site in late April we noted the death of J.G. Boswell, whose name is synonymous with California cotton and, for better or worse, corporate agriculture.

If you've ever traveled in the the state's San Joaquin Valley then you probably drove by, on or near land in Boswell's holdings, especially if you were in parts of Kings and Kern Counties on the southern end of the SJV. Though referred to as a ranch, the word operation is more appropriate. And this giant agribusiness entity is just as multi-faceted as Boswell, himself, who took over the family business at 29 from his uncle. Boswell died in April of this year at 86. His legacy as a success was as recognized as was his penchant for privacy.

He liked to be viewed as a simple cowboy. In reality, he was a graduate in Economics from Stanford University and sat on the board of General Electric as well as other corporations. He was born in Greensboro, Georgia, before the family moved to California.

Despite his Southeastern roots, he became part of the very power structure of California, marrying the daughter of Harry Chandler, Los Angeles Times Publisher and real estate baron. Boswell further built real estate interests in suburban and urban settings, but he will forever be linked to the SJV holdings. Today, J.G. Boswell Company farms over 150,000 acres in the U.S., and the cotton enterprise is said to have produced income exceeding $150 million annually.

Boswell's farm personnel grow it, pick it, gin it and spin it. Other crops raised on the California acreage include tomatoes, alfalfa hay, wheat and safflower. The company also crushes the cotton seed, runs two tomato processing plants and has a cow/calf operation. The Boswell operation is also a major grower, ginner and marketer of cotton in Australia. It is one of North America's main suppliers of safflower oil, and the company's cottonseed breeding program was commercialized under Dow's Phytogen brand.

The best resource for understanding what made J.G. Boswell, the man and the company, take a look at The King of California: J.G. Boswell and the Making of a Secret Empire, written by Arax and Wartzman. This is authoritative because the authors were actually given access to both Boswell and the company's archives. The book tells of the early years when cotton was king and Boswell, as well as other San Joaquin Valley farmers, understood that success was tied to water.

Boswell also recognized the need to take advantage of the most modern and productive farm equipment available. He knew that to plant 90,000 acres of cotton in 9 days, then harvest those same acres in 6 weeks, he had to have the best equipment and dedicated employees.

This book should be on the required list for any farmer, but definitely for the cotton growers in the crowd.

-Tom Crumby

The Boll Weevil, Then And Now

Ron Smith, Alabama's Extension Cotton Entomologist Emeritus, has lived a good deal of the history of the boll weevil in the South. Now, Smith has developed a lecture on the subject, going back to the very entry of the pest into this country and tracing it through the so-far-successful attempt to eradicate it.

"The impact of the boll weevil on the South's economic life is second only to that of the Civil War," says Smith, who has been invited to share his insights with history groups and as part of a museum lecture series. It's a fascinating talk, full of things you've probably never heard about the pest and its role in shaping modern Southern agriculture.

One of his recent lectures was recorded on video, and his slide presentation accompanies his talk. Click here to view it:

http://wms.aces.edu/accordent/bollweevil/f.htm

It's best viewed on Internet Explorer, we've found.

-- Owen Taylor

Willie Nelson steps into milk-price debate

Willie Nelson and the Farm Aid organization are urging U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack to put a floor under milk prices after prices paid to dairy farmers fell by more than half this year, and the organization has started a petition drive to round up support for its position.

The free-fall in dairy prices has crippled areas where farmers operate dairies and/or supply hay, silage and other feed for milk production. Earlier this month, California reported what is believed to be the fifth instance of a dairy farmer committing suicide. Larger dairies are losing hundreds of thousands of dollars a month, but even smaller operators are being hit, according to a release from Farm Aid. High feed and energy costs last year took a toll

“Setting a fair price for milk won’t fix all the problems that led to the current crisis, but it may be the only way to keep thousands of dairy farmers on their farms this year,” said Nelson, a Farm Aid board member and ag activist. “Unless Secretary Vilsack takes immediate action, huge areas of the United States may be left without any local dairy farms at all.”

The price of milk paid to farmers by processors collapsed a record 30% in January, according to a release from Farm Aid, and prices are "currently down 50% since July 2008. In the meantime, the top dairy processors have recently announced 2009 first quarter earnings that are up from the same period last year. The top processor, Dean Foods, reported their first quarter earnings are more than double that of last year thanks in part to the plunging price Dean pays to its milk producers."

-- Owen Taylor

Soybean replanting decisions: guidelines, numbers

Over the next week we expect more Extension workers in the Midsouth to issue soybean replanting advisories and guidelines.

Here are 2 to study right away:

Arkansas Soybean Notes, 5-15. Replant decisions ahead - how to call it; soybean rust outlook; market report.

Mississippi: Current Issues In Soybean Production, 5-5-2008. What population is too low, and calculating plant populations.

The date on the Mississippi advisory is correct. Trey Koger, the state's Extension soybean specialist, issued the report after last year's wet spring led to widespread stand loss and plenty of questions about soybean replanting. Here's the start to that year-ago advisory:

"The last six weeks have definitely been challenging for everyone trying to get a crop in the ground and up to a stand. The past few springs have been fairly dry and helped us to forget what it is like trying to get a crop in the ground and up in an extremely wet spring. This is not to say we cannot make a good crop in years with wet springs because we have in the past, it is just something we haven’t dealt with in a few years. About the time you get frustrated with drowned out low lying spots in fields or bottom ends of fields where we have lost some crop, think about those dealing with flood waters that have killed entire wheat, corn, and/or soybean crops and that still have floodwaters covering a tremendous amount of their acreage. Unfortunately, it does help to put things in perspective for those not dealing with extreme floodwaters."

History repeats itself.

-- Owen Taylor

Organic soybean producers competing with Chinese

U.S. organic soybean producers have been hit with the same kind of competition that, so far, has crippled catfish farmers in the South and garlic growers in California.

Namely, cheap Chinese imports.

The charge was made this week in a report issued by The Cornucopia Foundation, an organization that promotes organic agriculture. The report is titled, Beyond the Bean: The Heroes and Charlatans of the Natural and Organic Soy Foods Industry.

In a press release about the report, the foundation cites Dean Foods, the leading U.S. marketer of organic soy milk, as a major company that has brought in organic soybeans from Chinese sources.

"White Wave (Dean's marketing division for Silk and Horizon organic milk) had the opportunity to push organic and sustainable agriculture to incredible heights of production by working with North American farmers and traders to get more land in organic production," said Merle Kramer, a marketer for the Midwestern Organic Farmers Cooperative. "But what they did was pit cheap foreign soybeans against the U.S. organic farmer, taking away any attraction for conventional farmers to make the move into sustainable agriculture."

-- Owen Taylor

Being a Good Neighbor, For a While

I heard a story about this fellow John. It seems John was trying to get started farming during those hard times following World War II. He had been able to get the down payment on a small farm at the edge of the hills of Mississippi. Both his wife and he had jobs in town and they farmed on the weekend. They were having a hard time keeping everything going.

Now it seems another fellow, George, lived just a little piece down the road. George, it was widely agreed, had no love for hard work.

Now John always made sure that there was enough wood for the week’s fires. Enough for the cook stove and the fireplace. He kept it stacked neatly in the barn so it would stay dry.

But it seems John was having trouble with the wood pile. It looked as though he was cutting more wood than they were burning. And he just happened to notice that George always had a nice fire, but he never cut much wood. So John finally ran out of patience and decided to take action. That Saturday afternoon he got a nice stick of wood, drilled a small hole in it and whittled a wooden plug to fit the hole. From a shotgun shell, he got a few grains of powder and poured them into the hole. Next, he carefully pushed the plug into the wood. Then he laid that stick right on top of the pile.

A few days later, way over in the middle of the night, John and his wife heard a small explosion. George was not hurt, but there was no glass left in his windows. And John never missed any more wood.

I was in the coffee shop one morning when the real “John” was asked about this episode. He just smiled and sipped his coffee.

--Tom Crumby

California's Water Situation: A Primer

When I try to explain the water situation in California to people in the South, they almost act like I'm making all this up. In many ways, it just doesn't sound logical.

Here's the short version:

Drought over the last 3 years led to a shortage of snow in the Sierra Mountains and water in lower-elevation reservoirs, both of which provide irrigation water as the farming season gets underway. Plus, less rain has fallen in the prime farming areas in the state's Central Valley, which includes both the San Joaquin Valley (SJV) and Sacramento Valley.

That, in part, led to mounting restrictions on how much water would be released for farmers by way of water districts.

This year, a huge chunk of the SJV was denied water altogether (though later a 10% allotment was announced by federal regulators). Remember, these are arid regions by most any standard. A year with 20 inches of rain would be considered wet.

In past years there still would have been enough water to supply at least a portion of allotments to SJV irrigation district. But, environmentalists won court rulings that ensure a certain amount of water reaches the Pacific for estuaries that act as spawning grounds for saltwater fish. Essentially, water needed for cotton, tomatoes and a host of permanent crops flows through farmlands via canals and ends up in San Francisco Bay.

No water, no crops. The struggle is to pump enough groundwater (often salty) or buy enough water from other sources (usually expensive) to keep permanent crops like almond trees and grape vines from dying.

All this has led to hardships, both for farmers and farm workers, including many who now live in California year-round and, in some cases, have gained citizenship. This has made for strange bedfellows, with Latino farm workers and activists rallying -- literally and figuratively -- with mostly-Republican farmers and agri-business interests. Hardly a business in the SJV, in fact, isn't seeing a decline in sales, over and above what owners could have expected when 2008 ended with a distressed economy.

The worst-hit area for a number of reasons is the Westlands Water District on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. It's allocation of irrigation water initially was zero for 2009, then bumped up to 10%. Because it's the newest of the SJV's water districts -- dating, actually, to the 1950s -- it was the first to be cut. Productive land that might have been in tomatoes or Pima cotton this year was left unplanted. Farmers in extreme cases are destroying orchards because, without water, they will likely die before this summer is over. Unemployment rates have soared in once-bustling farm communities.

The following is a link to a balanced overview on the situation. Sara Savary, a friend who works as a professional crop advisor in the SJV, forward this to me:

Drought, Politics Trouble Farmers In California

-- Owen Taylor

Palmer pigweed: start your engines

Palmer pigweed -- now highly resistant to glyphosate in a troubling number of areas -- already has a head start on cotton in parts of Georgia this season, according to an advisory from Stanley Culpepper, Extension weed specialist and a key figure in bringing glyphosate resistance issues into th epublic view.

"Palmer amaranth has emerged and is growing rapidly in many fields across the state," Culpepper noted in Monday's Georgia Cotton News. "It is essential that growers control this pest prior to or at planting."

He included application tips, product options and rates.

Click here for Culpepper's report.

Louisiana Rice: Grape Colaspis Advisory Issued

Johnny Saichuk, Louisiana Extension Rice Specialist, issued a special advisory Monday regarding grape colaspis, which appear to be turning up in some south Louisiana rice fields.

Saichuk showed photos of a field thinned by the pest and said grape colaspis was suspected in several other locations.

"It is a common pest of rice in Arkansas and was found in Louisiana around 25 years ago by Dr. Steve Linscombe," Saichuk noted. "At that time each case Dr. Linscombe found was an isolated case. This time we think this field (in the photos) is one of several that all started
showing similar symptoms late last week. While we have not confirmed it in all cases we are certain that is the problem in this field."

Click here for the full advisory (PDF file).

-- Owen Taylor

Across the Mid-South, May 11, 2009: Wet and wetter

The news across the Mid-South this week is rain. Lots of rain. Some areas had begun to need a shower about 10 days ago. But the 6 to 8 inches that many areas caught was more than enough. The worst situation was where the rain totals are in the 8- to 10-inch category. Thousands of acres are flooded, and the drainage systems, large and small, are at flow capacity. Worse, rains dominated the weekend weather. And rain is predicted today on a wide area. We've received reports of heavy amounts in southeast Arkansas and the south Delta of Mississippi.

The management challenge is great. With waterlogged soil, oxygen content is very low. No doubt, there will be some stand losses due to field flooding.

Tom Barber, Arkansas Extension Agronomist, notes that cotton that is waterlogged for 36 hours may likely die. If you are considering replanting, just remember that if you can get cotton past the 2-leaf stage with a decent root system, it’s a tough plant. But it's also a tough call when it comes to replanting.

Click here to read Barber's comments.

Reports from across the Mid-South note infestations of armyworms in corn and wheat and cotton. Close scouting is needed to protect yield potentials.

Other high points from reports posted today on AgFax.Com:

Arkansas: For the week ending Sunday, May 10, all of the 36 weather stations regularly tracked in the state recorded at least an inch of rain, and 17 recorded at least 4 inches of rain, according to today's Arkansas Crop Condition And Progress report. "With reports of flooding in low-lying fields and water-logged soils, some producers have switched their sorghum and corn intentions over to soybeans," it was noted.

Kentucky: "The Commonwealth experienced yet another week of excessive rainfall, as last week was the 6th week out of the past 7 with above normal rainfall," according to Monday's Kentucky Weekly Crop And Weather Report. "Consequently, this wet pattern has caused growers throughout the Bluegrass State to be continually delayed in field operations. In fact, several counties have reported areas of excessive flooding to the point that they are underwater. Temperatures continued on the warm trend as above normal values were reported for the 3rd straight week."

Louisiana: Compared to states to its north, Louisiana had a longer window last week for field work and planting, according to Monday's Louisiana Crop Weather Summary. The report noted that: "Planting of field crops continued to progress. Rice desiccated by windy weather. Rice producers began application of herbicides. Sugarcane producers fertilized fields, and rust was reported in sugarcane."

Mississippi: "The continuous rainfall has interrupted field activities across much of the state," according to the state's Weekly Weather Crop Report. "Some producers are waiting for the weather to improve to assess any damage and discuss replanting intentions."

Mississippi Extension reports included:

• “The ground is saturated. Farmers are waiting to see how much replanting will need to take place.” — Laura Giaccaglia, Bolivar
• “Muddy, soggy, flood-like conditions continue to plague planting attempts. We actually need some light showers to keep the ground soft to let the planted crops emerge.” — Jimbo Burkhalter, Tallahatchie
• “Continued scattered rains have once again hampered field activities. We need some dry weather here in the extreme Northeast part of the state.” — Patrick Poindexter, Alcorn
• “Rain has prevented any fieldwork. Producers got very little corn planted. Cotton will be late if it gets planted at all. Quoting a producer, 'I'd rather be waiting on the fields to dry up to plant instead of waiting for them to get moisture to plant.'” — Danny Owen, Tishomingo
• “We have received approximately 15 inches of rain in the last 10 days. When it finally dries up, we will have a lot of replanting to do.” — Eddie B. Harris, Humphreys
• “Everything is wet. Some replanting will occur due to packing rains preventing crop emergence.” — Bill Burdine, Chickasaw

Missouri: Some replanting is likely in southeast Missouri due to wet conditions, according to Monday's Missouri Crop Progress And Condition report. Rice planting was running 5 days behind normal, while cotton was behind 11 days.

--Tom Crumby

The Hand That Feeds U.S.: Looking for support in a shifting world of media

I don't often read through a press release and then sit back and say, "That's refreshing."

But that did happen today when I scanned an announcement about a new pro-ag web site and campaign built around the phrase "The Hand That Feeds U.S." The idea is to build some understanding among "big city reporters" about the role farmers and agriculture play in modern society.

Linda Raun, a Texas rice producer, noted in the announcement:

"It makes no sense that we're (farmers) being demonized in many of the nation's top media markets. It's not the journalists' fault. We haven't done a good enough job telling them our story. We've been negligent in explaining that farmers feed and clothe every person in this country, employ 20 percent of the nation's workforce and will be at the center of America's economic recovery."

What's refreshing is the fact that a group finally understands and admits that ag has done a poor job in both beating its own kettle and gaining some semblance of respect and recognition from the broader part of America, especially in urban areas.

The project's announcement and the web site, itself, are a bit short on info about how the group will go about accomplishing any of this. I hope this doesn't turn into yet one more well meaning web site that nobody visits.

We hear a good deal of frustration from marketing folks with major ag manufacturers and farmer groups about how they've thrown 6-figure sums at web sites and generated very little traffic. Somebody has to keep the site fresh and continue drawing attention to it, which is the point people miss when they envision a web site. It's a bit like being in the dairy business. The cows have to be fed and milked multiple times a day Occasionally posting links to articles in farm magazines is never enough. You'd better have something compelling for any reports who happen to find out about the site.

One challenge with all this is the sheer disintegration of big-city newspapers, where the intended target audience - reporters and editors - work. Those papers are the ones that lead TV stations and even bloggers into the next new thing. Most papers now lack the manpower to pay attention to anything other than their immediate beats. A friend who's an executive editor at a major newspaper in the Southeast told me that his staff dropped from over 300 to something like 190 in one massive round of layoffs last year. He's already treading water to keep up with the local news, not to mention an ongoing push to blend things like podcasts, blogs and videos into their news approach.

At one time he probably could have been cajoled into sending a reporter on the road to research and write a series of articles on the present and future of farming. But that won't happen now.

Sorry for sounding so negative. On the whole, the announcement is good news. All this has been deeply on my mind lately. I'll try to elaborate a bit on my own ideas over the next couple of weeks.

In the meantime, click here to read the announcement.

Will There Be Enough Trucks?

As I left the bluffs at Vicksburg, that same old feeling crept over me. It’s funny how it happens. You may leave that flat Delta land and live somewhere else, but a part of you remains there forever – especially if you were involved with agriculture. And, more particularly, if you had anything to do with cotton. And, quite naturally, I started looking for a field of cotton. True it was a little early, but…

By the time I got to Rolling Fork I was in a panic. Where was the cotton?

All I had seen was corn or soybeans. There were a few unplanted fields that might go to cotton, but not many. I had seen planting intentions that talked about a 40% reduction in Mississippi cotton acres. The trouble is, I don’t know when they started the calculations. The numbers that I understand better say that in 2006 there were about 1.2 million acres of cotton in Mississippi. For 2009 the predictions are for a little over 350,000 acres. And for that size crop, there may only be about 70 gins running. Similar data are said to apply in other cotton areas.

Cotton producers and researchers began to look into ways to get the crop to the spinner more efficiently. Through a process of evolution, we now have boll buggies, module builders and module haulers that allow the pickers to roll on. And now we have new pickers with attached module builders. And high density presses shrink the bale size to get more bales on a truck. This is a story of efficiency.

I can understand all that. But it is not the question I pose.

The new combines are bigger and faster. The diesel truck and grain trailer look the same as they did years ago, just faster. Faster to get to the elevator quicker to painfully wait in the line.

Now the question: where will we get all the trucks needed to get this huge grain crop to the elevator.

If somebody can figure out how to engineer a quick way to turn a boll buggy into a grain hauler they’ll briefly be a hero.

- Tom Crumby

Eat more Lay's

At the Kroger this morning the store's PA system - the one that usually tells you about bargains in the meat department - carried a Lay's potato chip commercial that mainly praised the farmers who grew the potatoes. Wish I had had a recorder with me. Essentially, it said that without the farmers, there wouldn't be Lay's potato chips.

The recorded announcement still directed shoppers to a potato chip display. Nonetheless, it was refreshing to hear a company actually connect its product to the people who grow it.

Addendum, May 12:

We received a press release from Lay's today that announces a new marketing campaign that actually features the farmers who grow the company's potatoes. See:

Lay's Launches New Marketing Campaign Celebrating Local People, Communities Behind Its Potato Chips 5-12

- Owen Taylor

Off Topic: For anyone with hummingbird feeders

If you enjoy hummingbirds, click here.

- Owen Taylor

How much nitrogen did I lose?

That's a common question right now, both in the Southeast and Midsouth.

In the Southeast, heavy rains hit in April. In the Midsouth, they came mostly in the first week of May.

Two Extension fertility specialists have responded to that question. Here are links to PDF files containg their comments:

• Arkansas Corn and Grain Sorghum News, 5-8. See Leo Espinoza's comments starting on page 2.
  
  
• Tennessee IPM Newsletter. See Hugh Savoy's comments starting on page 5.

- Owen Taylor

Heavy Rainfall: It's been the Delta's turn lately

Much of the Southeast endured heavy rainfall in mid April, and that disrupted fieldwork, caused severe silting and washing, leeched away nitrogen and set corn planting behind for weeks.

Now, it's the Midsouth's turn. The Delta states received heavy rainfall starting about 10 days ago. We've heard of some locations receiving 12 or more inches, and totals of 4 to 8 inches are common. Water was standing on fields on a wide basis by noon Tuesday, and rivers were flooding low-lying fields in parts of Arkansas and Tennessee.

Cotton, rice and soybean planting have mostly been put on hold. For more info, here are links to our cotton, rice and grain reports that cover the region:

AgFax: Midsouth Cotton: Delta cotton planting put on hold by heavy rains

RiceFax: Midsouth/Texas: Wet weather continues to delay, hurt rice in Midsouth, Texas

AgFax: Southern Grain: rains hamper Midsouth crop but were needed in Southeast, worm alerts issued

Subscriptions, by the way, are free to growers, crop advisers and industry personnel.

Click here to be added to our list.

-- Owen Taylor

Louisiana Rice: A Milestone Occasion

This is a big year for Louisiana’s Rice Research Station at Crowley. The facility, the nation's first research center devoted to rice, is celebrating its 100th anniversary, and the occasion will be marked by what is believed to be it’s 100th field day.

“It’s my understanding that the station held a field day that first year and, as near as we can tell, there has been a field day every year since then,” says Steve Linscombe, the station’s superintendent.

The station, like the rice industry itself, has come a long way in a century. A stream of new rice varieties have flowed from the station’s breeding program over the decades. In its recent history, the station has done pioneering work on herbicide-resistant rice varieties. Recently, it launched a hybrid rice project. It even has a webcam pointed toward a 6-acre block of rice, giving people all over the world a chance to see the crop develop.

The centennial will be celebrated on July 1 at the annual field day. Tours start at 7:30 a.m., and the main program gets underway at 10:30 a.m., with lunch following.

Spray Tips Wear Out

The most critical part of the sprayer often gets the least tender love and care. Fact is, the spray tips are quite fragile and tiny distortions to the openings of the tip can cause distorted spray patterns and product deposition.

The major problem though with spray tips is orifice wear. This was especially true when most of the spray tips were made of brass. The soft brass tips were really a problem when the spray formulation was some type dry material. Those tips did not last long. The stainless steel tips being made now are far superior. Still, there can be questionable tips that produce variations in the spray volumes and the spray patterns. These variations may cause either poor performance on the bugs or phytotoxicity to the crop being treated.

The best thing to do is use your small measuring cup and a stop watch to measure the flow from each spray tip. If the flow rate is not consistent with others on the sprayer, it should be replaced. These few minutes checking the flow rate will insure even spraying and optimum performance.

When a spray tip is clogged, please don’t use your pocket knife or a piece of small wire to clean it. You may get the tip cleaned, but you may also damage the most critical part of the tip, the opening. Use a soft brush and gently clean it. An old toothbrush will do just fine.

For additional information, you may want to refer to TeeJet.com

Take care of your spray tips. Keep them clean and properly adjusted so the spray goes where it is supposed to at the rate it is supposed to. And you get rid of your pests.

--Tom Crumby

Spray Drift Management

Spray Drift Management
Drift has been a problem for years. To some degree, all sprays can and do drift. The objective is to keep spray drift within reasonable limits, and off sensitive property. Always keep in mind that pesticides are carried along with the spray drift droplets. And quite naturally, herbicide drift is the one that is obvious and often expensive.

Unfortunately spray drift complaints often involve non-farm situations such as adjacent property owned by folks that do not want pesticides on their property. Be a good neighbor and cooperate with their wishes. You might stop by for a visit and let them know what you are doing, and why.

Spray drift is most often caused by the small droplets(less than 100 microns) within the spray cloud. These small droplets are likely to evaporate, becoming even smaller and having the potential to drift even farther.

The optimum size for the spray cloud VMD is 400 microns. VMD is an expression of the droplet sizes contained within the spray cloud. Half of the spray droplets are smaller and half of the spray droplets are larger than 400 microns. This 400 micron spray cloud contains enough droplets for adequate target plant coverage, yet produces a minimum of smaller drift prone droplets.

One technique for managing drift is the use of drift control agents. There are several types available ranging from emulsified oils to polymers. Your local ag-chemical supplier probably has one that will give you good results.

Another critical component of drift management is wind management. Excessive winds and gusty winds are often the cause of drift events. Especially when the winds are blowing toward sensitive plants. When the winds are wrong, wait. Even if “wait” means “tomorrow”.

You should also keep the spray booms as low as practical to reduce the potential for spray drift.

A lot has been covered in this blog. Perhaps we can do another and further examine some of the components of sprayer adjustment and operation. Meanwhile, you might want to pick up some literature from the spray equipment companies such as TeeJet.com. They are a great source of information, as is the Cooperative Extension Service.

In the meanwhile, keep your sprayer clean. Check your calibration frequently. And be a good neighbor by avoiding spraying when a drift incident just might be one result you did not plan on.

--Tom Crumby