I have become very concerned about the potential for fungal diseases in corn. I’m hearing about Northern Corn Leaf Blight concerns in South Georgia and I know it has been observed to a limited extent in nearby counties. My greatest concern locally appears to be Southern Corn Leaf Blight based on field diagnostics. I’m anxious …
Throughout North Florida farmers are busy with planters chasing the combine as small grains are being harvested and cash crops planted. We have been blessed with consistent rainfall the entire spring, and there has been plenty of moisture to get crops established without any issues. Most seasons farmers feel like they give up a little yield …
We are starting to see corn shooting tassels in a few fields. Although most of the crop was planted later, a few local fields were planted in the first two weeks of March. As a general rule of thumb I usually say it takes 68-70 days for tassel emergence in our earliest planted corn. I went …
The Watermelon Bus! Throughout North-Central Florida watermelon farmers, harvesters, and packers are getting their harvesting buses ready to dive into what looks to be a nice watermelon crop. Farmers have been challenged with below average temperatures, and above average rainfall this spring, but the farmers appear to have made the right management decisions to deliver a …
We often talk about a “farmer’s intuition” and it took me awhile to realize maybe intuition is not the right word, but there is clearly a pattern to the history and experience of each individual farmer. A few years ago, one area farmer shared that his goal was to put out his last nitrogen fertilizer application to the …
I am seeing peanuts planted on April 1st just cracking the surface as of April 10th. This emergence timing is typical for the fields we get planted around the 1st of April each year. There are a few acres planted locally where farmers are trying to plant into available soil moisture and stretch their harvesting window by getting some peanuts planted early, some …
Continue reading ‘Early Peanuts Cracking…Still too Early?’ »
The peanut industry was patiently awaiting the Prospective Plantings report by USDA on March 31, 2014. Leading up to the report I saw several predictions in print of a 10-15% increase in planted acres. However this report apparently blasted those expectations. I guess we will know soon enough as peanut planters are now rolling in …
Conservation Farmers in North Central Florida are getting their corn crops planted and applying burndown herbicides. They know a thick mulch layer will keep soil temperatures lower and will conserve soil moisture from their non-irrigated fields until peanut and cotton planters roll in a few weeks. We have a wide variety of cover crops and …
Continue reading ‘Conservation Farmers and Soil Health Meeting (Video)’ »
We planted the Columbia County Grain Corn Trials on 3/14. Conditions were good at the time but we have received about 4″ of rain since we finished planting the field. I worked with the crew from 83 Farms to get these planted on their farm in Columbia County. We installed these plots in a randomized, replicated design, with three …
There has been much chatter in the agricultural community about the Farm Bill which was recently signed into law. The final version of the Farm Bill was identified as the Agriculture Act of 2014. This version was a compromise between the House and Senate versions which were several years in development. The Farm Bill is …