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Articles by Blayne Reed
Texas Plains Cotton: Rains Make Scouting Difficult
General Status It’s hard to believe that we might need a boat or at least a mud sled to get through the area to scout our thrice baked surviving summer crops this year, but it has happened. From various sources and impressions, over the past few weeks we have received roughly somewhere between 4-inches up to 8-inches, depending on where your field is in Hale and Swisher.
Texas Wheat: Early Planting - Insect, Disease Vector Management Suggestions
With rains finally blessing the High Plains area, and with grain prices rising, many producers will likely want to take advantage of the soil moisture for wheat establishment right away. It has been so dry for so long in our semi-arid region we certainly recommend taking advantage of moisture opportunities, especially for dryland acres. The seed availability issues of this year aside, crop establishment is always the first major hurdle in Texas High Plains wheat production.
Texas Plains Cotton: Rains Likely to Cause Regrowth Issues
General Status For most of our fields, things are winding down rapidly. For late fields or the minority that are still lush and setting fruit, pest pressure still seems to be heating up. A long-awaited substantial rain for just about every acre finally came last weekend or the week before depending on your location. While I still feel all surviving fields not harvested yet is receiving some benefit from the rains, unless the muddy fields are delaying harvest.
Texas Plains Cotton: Plenty of Threats to Keep You Scouting
General Status Rains actually occurred again this week and good chances remain for the next few days. There were select areas that received multiple inch rains, particularly in southern Hale, but most of our acres received 0.2-inches or less. Regardless of what was received, the entire area is far from feeling any real or substantial relief from the drought. There is quite a bit of discussion about whether or not this moisture will even be a benefit to our current crop.
Texas Plains Cotton: Insects Chasing Lushest Crops Following Cooler, Wetter Conditions
General Status It is sad to say that the last 10 days have been some of the wettest / moistest /coolest of the official summer season. Still, I estimate that only about half of our production fields actually received substantial moisture. Those that did, generally received at least 0.7-inches with a few select spots receiving multiple inch totals. The slight majority still received less than 0.1-inches as the clouds passed by.
Texas Plains Cotton: Lots of Pests, No Economist Thresholds
General Status Weather and drought remain our greatest issues this week yet again as we plow through crunch time and peak water use with not a drop of moisture to spare. We did get a break in temperatures for a day or two while many of our neighbors to the north received variable but generally heavy moisture.
Texas Plains Cotton: Expect Bollworm Numbers to Start Rising
Bollworm, cotton square. Photo: Aaron Cato, University of Arkansas General Status As we advance through this 2022 Bar-B-Que Pit of a summer growing season this week plenty of pests continue to nickel, dime, threaten, and in a few cases, hit hard. Still, the heat and drought continue to be the main issue threatening most fields. Several area cotton fields have reached peak water use, or that time of year I generally refer to as crunch time.
Texas Plains Cotton: More Abandoned Fields; Keep Eye Out for Fleahoppers, Lygus
Drought stressed cotton. Photo: Bill Robertson, University of Arkansas General Status We felt that the days of ‘giving the last rites’ to fields that failed to establish or could not keep profit potential up under the extreme weather situations were behind us. While this should be true for just about any season we can think of, apparently it is not true this year.
Texas Plains Cotton: Lots of Fleahoppers, Plant Bugs Numbers Increasing
General Status Crop progress continues under general drought conditions despite several popcorn or cotton showers that have been rummaging through the past week or more. These convective showers have been beneficial, but by their nature have not been widespread or dropped mush rain with plenty of acres not receiving anything except a bit of cloud cover and outflow winds.
Texas Plains Cotton: Dryland Fields Mostly Gone, Pests Quiet but Some Sneaking In
General Status With the fate of most of the borderline failing fields finally determined via insurance, we have been able to focus better on the well being of our surviving fields. Almost all of these fields in the area are irrigated. Dryland fields might not be mentioned here for the remainder of the season although a few in the area are still hanging on somewhere just above the permanent wilting point.
Texas Plains Pest Management: Cotton Susceptible to Fleahoppers; Watch for Fall Armyworms
General Status Hot and dry is the theme of the year so far. Early rains gave us quite a bit of hope, but they have not continued the way they did last year, and they were not really enough to break the drought situation. As a result, over 45% of our scouting program irrigated acres have now been failed and surviving dryland fields are rarer than a gentle rain cloud.
Texas Plains Cotton: Still Evaluating Establishment, Variable Thrips Pressure
Uneven cotton emergence. Photo: Texas AgriLife Extension General Status Another week has progressed in 2022 and we are still evaluating fields for establishment. It is safe to say that our failure rate will be high, despite some relieving rains. For many fields, even irrigated fields, it just was not enough.
Texas Plains Cotton: Variable Rains Do Little to Alleviate Drought
General Status Our status is double dry with a sprinkling of relieving rain on top. How much rain was received in the last few weeks varies from field to field, but the short answer is, not enough to bring us out of the drought. Our sub-soil is still bone dry while our surface soil sucks up all the moisture provided and is begging for more. Most areas received the blessing of beneficial rains from almost 2 -inches up to a reported 5-inch hot spot that came happened to come with damaging hail.
Texas Plains Cotton: Pests Quiet, Get Ready for Harvest Aids
Defoliation of cotton with highboy ground rig. ©Debra L Ferguson General Status Fields have been making great progress in the heat this week, even the late ones. As we moved through the week, we found more open bolls consistently and consistently fewer cotton insects until most of our cotton scouting was just making sure the fields were not at risk from the usual suspects and covering late agronomic needs.
Texas Plains Cotton: Lygus Remain Most Prominent Pest
Tarnished plant bug, aka lygus bug. Photo: Lisa Ames, University of Georgia, bugwood.org. General Status Hot and dry week. That is just what the doctor ordered for the late, lush cotton fields that received so much rain last week but not what the grain fields trying to fill grain. It is hard to have it both ways, especially across the turnrow. As the crops are coming in a touch late, so it seems are several of the pests.
Texas Plains Pest Management: Lots Happening in Fields, Get Out and Scout
General Status Even with a timely, if not variable, rain this week, you would think we could take a sigh and relax for a bit. Traditionally this is the most important cotton scouting week on the Texas High Plains.
Texas Plains Pest Management: Insects Still Active but Few Passed Threshold
Bollworm eggs on cotton leaf. General Status Last week I would have stated that our crops are looking like some pretty good mid to late July fields, despite it being August. Now things are a bit more confusing, and it has been quite some time since we had a good rain shower. It never seems to fail in West Texas that right when our crops need moisture help the most, none is available.
Texas Plains Cotton: Pests Mostly Quiet, Watch Late Fields for Fleahoppers
General Status All apologies for being late with this newsletter, but stomach viruses show no mercy. This week crops are advancing well although most fields still fall into the ‘late’ category, but not too late for careful management to bring in safely with an average fall. There were not many fields that needed pest treatment this week, but we are tracking several pests on the rise in several of our crops.
Texas Plains Pest Management: Few Immediate Threats but Keep Scouting
General Status It is no secret that our crops, particularly cotton, are ‘running’ late this year. Most feel we are about 10-14 days behind schedule. I am not in panic mode yet. Our average last effective bloom date in the Plainview area is August 24th. Most decent to good cotton fields actually reach cut-out in most seasons around August 10th to August 12th. That can be our two week make up period and we have been having ideal weather this week to develop our crops.
Texas Plains Cotton: Fleahopper Pressure Remains Primary Concern
General Status Last night (7/15) the area received another rain event. According to Pivotrack Rain Page, areas south of Hale Center toward Abernathy received a 1/10 up to a 1/2 -inch while around Kress fields received anywhere from 1 1/2-inches up to 3-inches. We can certainly say this is a widespread and timely rain event that occurred just as irrigations were about to get into full swing again. I am unaware of any hail or otherwise harsh weather issues yet.
Texas Plains Cotton: Be on Lookout for Fleahoppers
Cotton fleahopper. Photo: Danielle Sekula General Status It has been a wet, cool week and no one is complaining about the moisture, a few hailed on strips aside. Rainfall amounts are highly variable. By my best estimate every area in the Hale & Swisher area has now received at least 1-inch over the past week with most areas receiving many inches more.
Texas Plains Cotton: Thrips Still a Problem in Later Fields, Be on Watch for Plant Bugs
Tarnished plant bug, aka lygus bug. Photo: Lisa Ames, University of Georgia, bugwood.org. General It was a hot, dry, week with high winds that hampered the last of our ‘catching up’ herbicide sprays, assuming our producers could find product to spray. The rollercoaster weather looks to be back in place with unnormal cool weather just around the corner but rain back in the forecast for this weekend and next week.
Texas Plains: Checking if Fields Survived the Weather, Not Many Pests Yet
General Status This week our producers and associated industries are trying to see just how much we can do at the same time with the least amount of sleep. We certainly have and have had a lot of farming to do. A lot of actions were delayed. Nothing in the field waits and we have several stage, calendar, and size deadlines running at us fast. But we are moving pretty fast too, and I believe we are making up ground in the high heat.
Texas Plains: Lots of Weather Problems, Few Complaints About Rain
General Status Fields are just starting to dry out. Hopefully for not too long, but at least long enough to get our crops evaluated, decisions made, and field work accomplished. We still do not have a good handle on our planted or crop status yet. Only in the past few days have we been able to make any scouting rounds. We will be working heavy this weekend and early next week at both evaluated field establishment and planting our remaining research trials.
Insects and the cold
Blayne Reed, Hale and Swisher County AgriLife Extension Office EA-IPM Agent Published 10:59 am CST, Wednesday, December 30, 2020 Every fall and winter, particularly following cold fronts, I am inundated with the statement, “Well, that should wipe those (insert target insect or pest) shouldn’t it, Blayne? At least until next year?” My answer, however, is never as fulfilling or as conclusive as one would expect or even hope.
Texas High Plains Cotton: Insect Pressure Generally Low, Don’t Stop Scouting - Podcast
Texas High Plains Cotton: Insect Pressure Generally Low, Don’t Stop Scouting – Podcast August 21, 2020 By Blayne Reed, Texas AgriLife Extension County Agent for Hale and Swisher Counties A caterpillar of the cotton bollworm on green cotton boll. Photo: Wenxue Pan/Nanjing University Much of the High Plains cotton crop is entering or nearing the final run, but it’s important to keep scouting and don’t flag on irrigation.
Texas Plains IPM: Insects All Over but Few at Economic Thresholds
Bollworm burrowing into cotton boll. Photo: University of Tennessee General Status Still very dry, with several things to scout and consider in triple digit temperatures. Some additional rains have come in the past week, but these too have been spotty and limited in benefit. Most of our scouting program fields are on the back side of peak water use with needs still quite high with others just coming into this ‘crunch time’ and still a handful of others with it on the near horizon.
Texas High Plains IPM: Bollworms in Cotton, Aphids, Armyworms in Sorghum - Podcast
Texas High Plains IPM: Bollworms in Cotton, Aphids, Armyworms in Sorghum – Podcast August 13, 2020 By Blayne Reed, Texas AgriLife Extension County Agent for Hale and Swisher Counties Sugarcane aphid Cotton: Bollworm pressure increasing in north, other pests occasional. Sorghum: sugarcane aphid generally increasing, hedgehog aphid found doing damage, fall armyworm ragging up whorl stage plants, spider mites in places. Corn: continue to watch for spider mites.
Texas Plains Cotton: Insect Populations Continue to Rise
Tarnished plant bug, aka lygus bug. Photo: Lisa Ames, University of Georgia, bugwood.org. Most of our surviving crop acres are in either “crunch time” or along one or another side of it. This terminology for me means peak water use and peak fruit set or grain fill. Where any individual field currently sets depends mostly on the spotty rainfall events of last week and irrigation capacity, but also planting date.
Texas Plains IPM: Lygus Numbers Rise, Drought Stress Continues
Tarnished plant bug, aka lygus bug. Photo: Lisa Ames, University of Georgia, bugwood.org. General Status A few more rain showers visited most of our fields this last week, but again the real beneficial amounts were very isolated. In the area of Tulia, some flooding even occurred with 3.5” falling in a short time. The rest of us received much less, only ranging from a trace up to about 0.6” with most getting around 0.2”.
Texas High Plains Cotton: Bollworms, Lygus, Aphids - Podcast
Trap with Bollworm - Corn Earworm - CEW moths. Photo: Gus Lorenz, Extension Entomologist, University of Arkansas, Division of Ag Here’s this week’s Audio Podcast from your High Plains IPM AgriLife Agents (7:43 minutes) recorded on July 29, 2020. Cotton: Bollworm trap counts rising, Lygus at treatable levels in places, aphid increasing slowly. Check nodes above white flower and irrigate if you can to hold at 5 NAWF. July 31 is the last Dicamba application date.
Texas High Plains Cotton: Plant Bugs Widespread and Building
Tarnished plant bug nymph on cotton bloom. Photo: Virginia Cooperative Extension General Status This week we have had several isolated but beneficial rain clouds move through our area. These provided great relief without much damaging weather, but coverage was not very widespread. Even along the edges of where these storms passed remains bone-dry. Our irrigated crops continue to progress with tired irrigation systems.
Texas High Plains Cotton: Lygus Still a Threat, Be Careful with PGRs - Podcast
Texas High Plains Cotton: Lygus Still a Threat, Be Careful with PGRs – Podcast July 23, 2020 By Blayne Reed, Texas AgriLife Extension County Agent for Hale and Swisher Counties Tarnished plant bug, aka lygus bug. Photo: Lisa Ames, University of Georgia, bugwood.org. Here’s this week’s Audio Podcast from your High Plains IPM AgriLife Agents recorded on 07/22/2020. Cotton: Lygus still a threat, and some fleahoppers, be careful about PGR applications. Corn: spider mites low to high.
Texas Plains IPM: Fleahoppers Still a Threat in Cotton; Sugarcane Aphids in Sorghum - Podcast
Texas Plains IPM: Fleahoppers Still a Threat in Cotton; Sugarcane Aphids in Sorghum – Podcast July 16, 2020 By Blayne Reed, Texas AgriLife Extension Agent for Hale and Swisher Counties Fleahopper on cotton leaf. Peanuts: time to wrap up fertility programs, irrigate to create the proper environment for flowering, pegging and pod development. Cotton: fleahopper still a threat. Mite pressure increasing in corn, sugarcane aphid in Lubbock, Hale and Crosby county sorghum.
Texas Plains Cotton: Beneficial Rains, Insects Creeping Up
General Status A very hot one from mid-week on and into the forecast. And the area finally received some beneficial rainfall last weekend/early this week. It seems amounts varied by location from 0.3-inches up to about 2.5-inches with most fields receiving about a 0.5-inch. In many cases it took 2 or 3 showers to reach this total but there were no major damaging weather events I am aware of.
Texas High Plains IPM: Fleahoppers on the Rise, Irrigation Critical - Podcast
Texas High Plains IPM: Fleahoppers on the Rise, Irrigation Critical – Podcast July 9, 2020 By Blayne Reed, Texas AgriLife Extension County Agent for Hale and Swisher Counties Cotton fleahoppers on squaring stem. Photo: Stephen Biles, Texas AgriLife Extension Fleahopper increasing in cotton, a few lygus, false chinch bug lower, some PGRs going out. Irrigation critical, wheat stubble sucking water out of the ground. A few spider mites in corn, some fall armyworm in sorghum.
Texas High Plains Cotton: More High Winds and Hail, Still Dry
Cotton field hit by hail. Photo: Jourdan Bell, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Entomologist General Status For another week, our fields were windblown and dry, unless hail stones fell. Although we did have a few days without constant high winds allowing some area fields to make strides in recovery, beneficial rains eluded all of us. Instead, we received extreme winds that came with a few area night storms.
Texas High Plains Cotton: Slow Crop Development, Weeds an Issue - Podcast
Texas High Plains Cotton: Slow Crop Development, Weeds an Issue – Podcast June 18, 2020June 18, 2020 By Blayne Reed, Texas AgriLife Extension County Agent for Hale and Swisher Counties Photo: Blayne Reed, Texas AgriLife In this episode of the High Plains IPM “Radio” Podcast – Cotton development behind, pests low except thrips in places, monitor insects as squaring starts. Weeds threatening; use Dicamba while you can. Corn; a few mites, gray leaf spot.
Texas High Plains Cotton: Hail Knocks Back Some Fields - Podcast
Texas High Plains Cotton: Hail Knocks Back Some Fields – Podcast June 12, 2020 By Blayne Reed, Texas AgriLife Extension County Agent for Hale and Swisher Counties Cotton field hit by hail on June 29, 2018 around Spearman, Texas. Photo: Jourdan Bell, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Entomologist Helpful rain, several cotton fields lost, check stand counts in cotton, thrips still high in cotton in places. Corn and sorghum looking pretty good.
Texas High Plains: Cotton Development and Insect Pest Scouting - Video
Texas High Plains: Cotton Development and Insect Pest Scouting – Video June 9, 2020 By Blayne Reed, Texas AgriLife Extension County Agent for Hale, Swisher, and Floyd Counties Cotton fleahopper. Photo: Danielle Sekula Hey folks! As you may know, we were not able to host our annual Field Scout School this year. Don’t worry, opportunity still knocks! Dr. Suhas Vyavhare and I recorded our 2020 cotton scouting presentation when we trained my few field scouts our first day of work.
Texas Plains Cotton: Heavy Thrips; Storms Bring Rains, Hail
Normal (left) and damaged cotton seedlings in Lubbock County. The seedling on the right survived wind damage and the growing point is alive, producing new leaves. Photo: Calvin Trostle, Texas AgriLife Extension General Status The biggest event of the week happened last night (June 4) with a rainstorm finally moving through the area. While widespread, rainfall totals varied from “at least we finally smelled rain” up to 2-inches. The largest totals were also accompanied by a focused and pounding hail.
Texas High Plains Cotton: Hot and Dry, Thrips Still Increasing - Podcast
Texas High Plains Cotton: Hot and Dry, Thrips Still Increasing – Podcast June 5, 2020 By Blayne Reed, Texas AgriLife Extension County Agent for Hale, Swisher, and Floyd Counties June cotton fighting its way through heat, wind, blowing sand and thrips. Photo: Seth Byrd, OSU Cotton Specialist Rain critical, dryland in peril, thrips very high in places like Tulia, a few cotton aphids starting, pillbugs and other things in no-till or minimum till with heavy cover.
Texas Plains: Some Heavy Thrips Spots, Pillbugs Doing Damage - Podcast
Texas Plains: Some Heavy Thrips Spots, Pillbugs Doing Damage – Podcast May 29, 2020 By Blayne Reed, Texas AgriLife Extension County Agent for Hale, Swisher, and Floyd Counties Thrips damaged cotton. Photo: University of Tennessee Check out my latest audio podcast for Hale and Swisher counties. It starts with the nearby area IPM agent Kerry Siders for Hockley and Cochran Counties and includes John Thobe for Bailey, Castro, and Parmer counties, too.
Texas High Plains Cotton: Heavy Thrips Populations - Podcast
Texas High Plains Cotton: Heavy Thrips Populations – Podcast May 21, 2020 By Blayne Reed, Texas AgriLife Extension County Agent for Hale, Swisher, and Floyd Counties Thrips injury on young cotton. ©Debra L Ferguson Stock Images In this week’s High Plains IPM Podcast Blayne Reed and the other county agents discuss thrips populations and management options.
Texas High Plains IPM: Planting in Dry Conditions, Watch for Wireworms - Podcast
Texas High Plains IPM: Planting in Dry Conditions, Watch for Wireworms – Podcast May 7, 2020 By Blayne Reed, Texas AgriLife Extension County Agent for Hale and Swisher Counties Wireworms. Photo: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Blayne Reed discusses planting conditions and current pest concerns for the Texas High Plains in this IPM podcast.
Texas High Plains Wheat: Checking Freeze Damage, Disease Status - Podcast
Texas High Plains Wheat: Checking Freeze Damage, Disease Status – Podcast April 16, 2020 By Blayne Reed, Texas AgriLife Extension County Agent for Hale, Swisher, and Floyd Counties Freeze injury (silvery colored streaks) on wheat seven days after below freezing temperatures. This week we cover detecting freeze damaged wheat heads, soil temps for planting, and wheat disease status.
Texas Plains Cotton: When to Start Applying Harvest Aids?
General Status We have received decent and substantial rainfall events since our last newsletter two weeks ago. This came too late to help our earlier planted corn and almost too late to help our cotton much. The rains were enough that we might be able to ease our last boll-fill irrigations but the largest help was for our later grain crops and any intended wheat acres.
Texas Plains Pests: Cotton Passed Cut-Out; Mites, Aphids in Corn, Sorghum
General Status The summer scouting season starts to draw to a close without any notable bollworm migration, flights, or cotton infestation to speak of while Banks grass mites and sugarcane aphids are keeping the pressure up in our late grain crops. The above average temperatures and apparent ‘rain free zones’ continue to task our irrigation systems past their capacity for another week while dryland crops not already made look to crumble to dust.
Texas Plains Pests: Migratory Bollworms Remain an Uncertainty
Trap with Bollworm - Corn Earworm - CEW moths. Photo: Gus Lorenz, Extension Entomologist, University of Arkansas, Division of Ag General Status Very little has changed over the past week in weather or pest status with crops, mites, and aphids only getting ‘hotter.’ A change in the weather during crunch time and peak water use for so many of our fields would give a great aid, if the rain would come gently.
Texas Plains Pests: Cotton Quiet; Sugarcane Aphids, Banks Grass Mite Active in Grains
Sugarcane aphids cluster on the underside of grain sorghum leaves. The pest decreases yields and secretes a sticky waste called “honeydew” that gums up combine harvesters. (Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service photo by Dr. Raul Villanueva) This week has been both very quiet and manic at the same time. Not much has developed on the pest side for cotton this week, while sugarcane aphids and Banks grass mites have been very busy in our reproductive stage grain crops.
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