Mississippi Crop Situation Podcast

Trent and Drew visit the Crop Doctors’ Podcast studio in Stoneville to discuss when farmers should terminate irrigation on soybean and how to decide that.  The sweet spot for ceasing irrigation on soybean is growth stage R6.5, but the trick is having adequate moisture in the root zone to carry the crop to that growth stage from the time of the last irrigation.  As you’ll hear in the beginning of the episode, we recorded this podcast episode prior to the rain on Tuesday morning. 

Dr. Chad Brewer, Senior Scientist with the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol, called into the Crop Doctors’ Podcast studio in Stoneville to visit with Jason and Tom about the benefits growers can receive as part of the Climate Smart Cotton Program, which is a sustainability initiative with partners across the cotton industry.  To be eligible, growers must first complete enrollment in the Trust Protocol by September 1, 2023, and upload their 2023 bales by March 1, 2024.  Growers are encouraged to get started today at https://trustuscotton.org.

Bobby visited the Crop Doctors’ Podcast studio in Stoneville again to talk about his transition from a statewide Extension specialist with Mississippi State University to his current role as the Director of Agronomy for Simplot Grower Solutions. 

Ben Lawrence and Read Kelly both spent many years working in different roles at the Mississippi State University Delta Research and Extension Center in Stoneville. Ben and Read visited the Crop Doctors’ Podcast studio in Stoneville to discuss their experiences from graduate school and working at Stoneville with Jason and Tom and how those prepared them for their current jobs.

Dr. David Buys, State Health Specialist with Mississippi State Extension, and Dr. Damon Darsey, a rural emergency medical physician and the Mississippi Highway Patrol’s medical director, visit the Crop Doctors’ Podcast studio in Stoneville to visit with Jason and Tom about heat stress. This is naturally a concern for farmers and agriculture professionals during the summer months. Drs. Darsey and Buys describe the different levels of heat stress, signs associated with each one, how to recognize them in other people, and how to address the symptoms. Major signs of a heat stress event are an altered mental state and when someone stops sweating. The quickest way to address heat stress is to cool that person down as quickly as possible.

Trey Price with the LSU AgCenter calls into the Crop Doctors’ Podcast studio in Stoneville to talk about aerial web blight in soybean.  Recent rainy and humid weather has made the environment right for this disease where it is historically a problem. Trey, Tom, and Jason talk about scouting for aerial web blight, fungicide treatments, timing of fungicide treatments, and growth stage cut offs for treatment. 

MSU Entomologists Drs. Tyler Towles and Don Cook drop in the Crop Doctors’ Podcast studio in Stoneville to share the current situation on bollworms in soybean and cotton. Current levels of bollworm infestations across the Delta, thresholds for triggering management in soybean and cotton, and Bt resistance are among the topics discussed. As the title says, their take-home message for the current situation is “don’t jump the gun”. 

Travis Faske from the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture and Trey Price with the LSU AgCenter both called into the Crop Doctors’ Podcast studio in Stoneville to discuss the status of southern rust in corn, which is an important disease for corn farmers across the midsouthern U.S.  Tom, Travis, and Trey compare notes on what they’ve seen recently in their respective states, growth stages when corn is most susceptible to damage from the disease, treatments for management, and fungicide treatments for standability. 

Dr. Jimmy Avery, Extension Aquaculture Leader and Director of the USDA NIFA Southern Region Aquaculture Center in Stoneville visits the Crop Doctors’ Podcast studio to talk with Jason and Tom about the catfish industry in Mississippi.  Topics include how and why the industry developed and why the Delta area in Mississippi was perfect for the growing industry.  Jimmy wraps up with a positive forecast for the future of the catfish industry and production in Mississippi. 

Mississippi State University Delta Research and Extension Center Communication Coordinator Laura Smith visits the Crop Doctors’ Podcast studio in Stoneville to talk about her role in promoting activities with MSU and beyond.  Laura’s background in print media helped her get off and running in her new role at DREC.  Topics include use of a range of media to promote the land grant mission of Mississippi State University and DREC.

Erick and Trent call into the Crop Doctors’ Podcast studio in Stoneville to visit with Jason and Tom about what they have seen and the questions they are fielding related to storm damage to the state’s corn and soybean crops incurred over the last 10 days.  Topics include percent defoliation, green snap in corn, and how to manage the crop after the storms.  

Don and Hunter visited the Crop Doctors’ Podcast studio in Stoneville to talk rice management recommendations for Mississippi farmers.  Don, Hunter, Jason, and Tom discuss rice water weevil numbers and management strategies. They proceed into a discussion of nitrogen fertilizer management and end up comparing notes on furrow-irrigated rice production. 

Whitney, Tyler, and Don sit down with Jason and Tom in the Crop Doctors’ Podcast studio in Stoneville to talk about one of the hottest topics right now for cotton farmers and consultants in Mississippi: thrips management.  Whitney and Tyler offer suggestions for management as well as discuss the current status of resistance in thrips populations in Mississippi. 

Trent and Drew visited the Crop Doctors’ Podcast studio in Stoneville to visit with Jason and Tom about soybean irrigation in Mississippi agriculture. It got dry in a hurry in many areas of Mississippi.  Trent and Drew are fielding many questions from Mississippi farmers about a range of topics on soybean irrigation.  Even though a variety of growth stages are represented across the state, many wells are already pumping water to the developing crop.

Erick visited the Crop Doctors’ Podcast studio in Stoneville to talk with Jason and Tom about nitrogen fertilizer management in corn.  Topics include timings, rates, additives, etc. to utilize when applying a tassel fertilizer application in corn.  Erick wraps up with some suggestions for managing the parts of the state’s crop that were planted a little later.