agriculture

Suhas Vyavhare & Katelyn Kesheimer, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension It�s go time for the cotton planters on the Texas High Plains. Planter wheels are turning throughout the region with clouds and patchy rain loomed in the forecast. There has been some early planting underway and we already are seeing some emerged cotton. Wireworms will be one of the first pests you will see in the Texas High Plains cotton. The wireworm adults (click beetles and darkling beetles) become active in early spring and lay their eggs in the soil in clusters. The adults, as well as the larvae produced from the late summer and fall egg-lays, overwinter in the soil in leaf litter, stubble, or other suitable habitats. Wireworms attacking cotton tend to be most severe following grains crops, especially sorghum, fallow or weedy ground, or in reduced-tillage systems. Click beetle Darkling beetle Wireworm larva Most damage is inflicted by larvae, although some darkling beetle species can girdle or clip seedling ...

This year's fall armyworm pheromone trap captures at the Lubbock Research and Extension Center are at historic lows for the eight years we have been operating the traps. There are no technical problems with the pheromone lures, and we have plenty of corn near the traps to attract moths. Of course the big question is why fall armyworm is mostly a no-show this year. We discussed this among Extension Entomology personnel on the High Plains and can't come up with a solid answer. There are plenty of moths on the Gulf Coast, we have the normal number of host plants, and we had a mild winter. Even thought I can't explain it, I am confident that this phenomenon is real and it is good news for our whorl stage corn and sorghum.

Suhas Vyavhare, Extension Cotton Entomologist, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service The EPA has approved the Section 18 Emergency Exemption for use of Transform WG in Texas to control plant bugs in cotton. Approved distribution and use only in Andrews, Armstrong, Atascosa, Austin, Bailey, Baylor, Bee, Borden, Brazoria, Briscoe, Brooks, Calhoun, Callahan, Cameron, Carson, Castro, Childress, Cochran, Coke, Coleman, Collingsworth, Colorado, Cottle, Crosby, Dallam, Dawson, Dickens, Donley, Duvall, Fayette, Fisher, Floyd, Foard, Fort Bend, Gaines, Garza, Goliad, Gonzales, Gray, Hale, Hall, Hansford, Hardeman, Hartley, Haskell, Hemphill, Hildago, Hockley, Howard, Hutchinson, Jackson, Jim Hogg, Jim Wells, Jones, Kent, King, Kleberg, Knox, Lamb, Lavaca, Lipscomb, Lubbock, Lynn, Martin, Matagorda, Mitchell, Moore, Motley, Nolan, Nueces, Ochiltree, Oldham, Parmer, Refugio, Roberts, Runnels, San Patricio, Scurry, Shackleford, Sherman, Starr, Stonewall, Swisher, Taylor, Terry, Throckmorton, V...