Rome Ethredge
Seminole County
207 E. Crawford St. • Donalsonville, Georgia 39845
Web Address:caes.uga.edu/extension/seminole
e-mail address: ethredge@uga.edu • 229-524-2326 Phone • 229-524-2856 Fax
Seminole Crop News
Question of the Week – Chattahoochee River 48 mile stretch
April 11, 2014
Last week I showed a river we visited and it was the Chattahoochee, at Suwanee, Ga, up above Atlanta. It looks
a whole lot different up there than here at home. Especially now that it is very high and looks like chocolate
milk here. It was clear up there and very cold. We were at Settles Bridge, not far downstream from the Buford
Dam on Lake Lanier. The water from Lanier comes out from the bottom of the lake and is very cold, about 50°
F.
In addition to supplying nearly 70 percent of metro Atlanta’s drinking water, the 48-mile stretch of the
Chattahoochee River between Buford Dam and Peachtree Creek offers some of the best trout fishing in north
Georgia, according to Georgia DNR.
The section between Buford Dam and Peachtree Creek lies within the Chattahoochee River National Recreation
Area (CRNRA) and is managed by the National Park Service (NPS). The Wildlife Resources Division (WRD)
and NPS work closely to manage the land, river and wildlife. For more information about the area, call 678538-1200 or visit http://www.nps.gov/chat.
This week I have a weed ID Question. This was brought into my office yesterday and at first I thought it was a
late Valentine. What is it?
June Beetle Grubs
April 11, 2014
These are green June Beetle grubs. They were found in a pasture where white birds were abundant, indicating
some sort of insect presence. The grubs were just at the soil surface causing some disturbance to the grass.
Looks like good fish bait. The adult June beetles are large green beetles.
Dr. Will Hudson, UGA Entomologist, gives us some more info on this situation. “They are the only ones that
will come to the surface, and their legs are very short for the size of the body. They also crawl with their legs up
in the air. They don’t eat roots, just organic matter in the thatch layer (that’s why they come to the surface). The
damage is all mechanical, from tunneling up and back down. Let the birds eat them if they will, but any labeled
pyrethroid will kill them at a low rate. It’s probably not worth a treatment unless there are so many they churn
the top layer and sever roots. This time of year, when the soil is still too cool for the grass to really be growing,
the “damage” seems worse than it actually is in many cases.”
Peanut Inoculant Considerations
April 11, 2014
We are fortunate that legumes including peanuts fix nitrogen from the atmosphere in the presence of a good
inoculant so we don’t have to supply this nutrient ourselves.
Here are some peanut inoculant considerations for 2014 by Dr. Scott Tubbs, UGA Cropping Systems scientist.
It’s been a cool and wet winter, and we’re coming out of what was the wettest year on record in many
locations. This would be a good time to refresh your memories on peanut inoculant applications. Because of
the conditions mentioned above, the rate of survivability of native Bradyrhizobia present in the soil is likely to
be much lower than in most years (regardless of how many years it has been since the last time peanut or a
cross-inoculating species was grown in a field).
Therefore, I would highly recommend growers to strongly consider the investment in a peanut inoculant atplanting this year, especially in poor draining fields that had standing water for more than a couple days. When
soils are saturated, oxygen is depleted and several things can occur with respect to these bacteria.
First, if heavy rainfall occurred shortly after a liquid inoculant was applied the last time peanuts were grown in a
field, it is possible that the concentration of the Bradyrhizobia bacteria was drawn away from seed furrow from
dilution or leaching. Saturated conditions can also kill the bacteria leaving lower native populations for
infecting future peanut plantings. When saturated conditions occur while peanuts are growing in a field, Nfixation is halted since oxygen is needed in this process, but is not readily available in the soil pore space since
water occupies all of that volume. It has been stated before by my predecessors and colleagues, and by me in
previous years as well – an inoculant application is one of the most cost-effective “insurance policies” at a
grower’s disposal. Without taking the time to run the dollar values at current prices, I can still safely say that in
most years it takes merely a 50-80 lb/ac increase in yield to cover the cost of the inoculant application at
planting. You will not see benefits from inoculants each and every year, but considering it only takes a 250
lb/ac yield bump once every 3-5 years to break even on an annual product application, such a decision should be
an easy one for most growers to make since the chances of a profitable outcome in the long-term is much
greater than not.
Also keep in mind that the product is listed on the label to be delivered at around 1.0 fl oz per 1,000 linear row
feet (may differ slightly depending on which product is selected). This is developed for single row
application. Inoculant application is not like adjusting seeding rate, where you are pulling half of the amount
out and moving it over to the adjacent twin furrow. With an inoculant, the applied amount needs to be per
furrow, therefore a twin row planting inoculant application will double the amount of inoculant applied
compared to a single row planting. I have no data to support using a half-rate of inoculant per furrow to keep
the total application rate per acre the same as a single row planting.
Some additional reminders regarding inoculant formulation decisions:
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When applied at labeled recommendations, the amount of viable cells delivered on a per acre basis does
vary by formulation, with the liquid inoculants supplying the most (8.3 x 1011 cells/ac), followed by
sterile peat products (5.8 x 1011 cells/ac), and granular supplying the least (2.4 x 1011
cells/ac). However, this should not be the primary deciding factor on which formulation to select.
Sterile peat/powder formulations are only recommended if there is no way of applying the other
formulations. To get good coverage/sticking of the product to the seed, the seed need to be
moistened. This requires drying time to prevent messy planter problems. When applied dry, there will
be inadequate seed coverage. I have data showing reduced nodulation and yields using this formulation
compared to the other formulations.
Do not confuse the granular inoculant formulation with the sterile peat/powder formulation, they are not
the same. The granular formulation, while also a dry product, is not applied to the seed prior to planting,
it is metered through a dry metering box such as an insecticide/herbicide hopper and placed in-furrow.
Regardless of formulation, these are living organisms. If you want them to remain alive/viable, then
don’t leave them sitting in the cab of a hot pickup truck or tractor, nor exposed to direct sunlight.
Likewise, since this is a living medium, exposure to certain pesticides designed to kill living organisms
(insecticides, fungicides, etc.) may adversely affect the product. Minimize exposure to such products,
and consult the labels/websites/representatives for more information about mixing of products. There
should be minimal concerns of exposure to typical peanut seed treatments, and short-term exposure to
common in-furrow fungicides in the case of tank-mixes. But a chlorine-free water source must be used
as the carrier for liquid inoculants.
When soil conditions are relatively dry, liquid inoculants will disperse away from the intended target,
thus the concentration of Bradyrhizobia near the seedling upon emergence and early season growth
when infection should be occurring may be hindered. The granular formulation will remain at the
bottom of the seed furrow, where intended. Therefore, in non-irrigated conditions with only marginal
soil moisture, granular products should be considered.
Canola in Showy Phase
April 11, 2014
Canola is in the real showy phase right now in south Georgia. I’ve had airplane pilots call me before asking
what that bright yellow crop is in April. Canola is grown for the high quality oil it supplies. Decatur County
Agent Justin Ballew and I were looking at some in Stephen Houston’s field recently. All types of pollen and
nectar loving insects were out there as well.
Canola gets a disease called Sclerotinia that affects growth and yields so growers protect the plants with
fungicides. This scerotinia is different from the peanut disease.
Here’s a link to UGA Canola Production information.
http://www.caes.uga.edu/commodities/fieldcrops/canola/
2013 Georgia Peanut Achievement Club
April 11, 2014
2013 Georgia Peanut Achievement Club Rules and Guidelines
It is time to prepare entries for the 2013 Georgia Peanut Achievement Club (GPAC). With the second straight
year of incredible yields, we are expecting some very worthy entries.
There will be 10 winners chosen in this manner:
(1) One state-wide winner that produced the highest average yield in Georgia in 2013 on 100.0 – 299.9 acres.
(2) One state-wide winner that produced the highest average yield in Georgia in 2013 on 300 or more acres
(3) One winner from each of the four GPAC districts for the following two acreage categories:
1) 300-699.9
2) 700 and up
The winners of each category receive an expense paid trip for themselves and their County Agent to the
Southern Peanut Growers Conference at the Edgewater Beach Resort in Panama City Beach, FL (July 24-26,
2014), sponsored by BASF and Syngenta. Entry forms are due in Tifton by Monday May 5, 2014 at 5:00 pm.
Email me if you would like the complete rules and forms. ethredge@uga.edu
Time To Plant Peanuts??
April 7, 2014
We have broken a lot of ground in preparation for planting peanuts but is it time to start planting?
We often talk about watching the 4-inch soil temperature as a guide for triggering planting decisions.
Dr. Scott Tubbs, UGA Crop Scientist, has the following update concerning planting peanuts.
There is data showing that peanut seed germination can drop fairly drastically once temperature dips below 68
F. It is suggested to allow the daily average soil temperature to stabilize above the 68 F mark for at least 3
consecutive days to buffer any drastic fluctuations.
The soil temps can rise or fall very rapidly in the late winter/early spring as the daily max/min temperatures
vary, and rain can likewise rapidly influence these temperatures. For example – in Tifton, on Feb. 1 the daily
high temp was 53 F and the 4-inch soil temp was 48 F. By Feb. 5 after 4 consecutive days of highs in the 70’s,
the 4-inch soil temp had increased 14 degrees to about 62 F. But the very next day, a cold snap hit with a high
of 47 F and low of 34 F, and the 4-inch soil temp dropped over 10 degrees in 1 day to 51 F. This is why it is
important to not only monitor the 4-inch soil temperature, but to also keep an eye on the weather forecast for the
following 5-days or so. If there is a cold front predicted to hit before the seed can get planted and germinated,
then there is the potential for seed to be shocked by decreasing temperatures, and end up with a poor plant stand
There is always a concern of a mid-April cold spell which could cause the soil temperatures to plummet once
again. I do not recommend planting earlier than around April 20, even then monitoring the combination of soil
temperature and the 5-day forecast to give the peanut seed optimum germinating conditions so the full plant
stand potential can be achieved. In the last 5 growing seasons, there was at least one instance each year where
the 4-inch soil temperature dropped below 67 F after April 17. This was usually because of a cold front that
brought cool rain and/or overnight lows in the upper 40’s.
Keep in mind that the Georgia Automated Environmental Monitoring Network (www.georgiaweather.net) has a
Quick Reference for monitoring soil temperature at the 4-inch depth near most towns in South Georgia,
including Donalsonville. At the website, just click on the “Peanut” link on the left side of the page, and you
will get a drop-down menu that includes “Soil Temperature”, with an alphabetical listing of many locations that
monitors the daily averages over the last 7 days, and the weekly average of those dates.
I received a message from Scott Hobby, the Seed Regulatory Program Manager at the GA Dept. of Ag. Seed
Lab in Tifton. Mr. Hobby stated that GA-06G has been struggling with germination this year in the laboratory’s
cold tests. Overall seed germination results are good, but the drastically reduced germination in the cold test is
further evidence that growers need to be cautioned about planting their peanut seed too early when there are still
strong possibilities for a cold front to drop soil temperatures rapidly, which could lead to poor, erratic plant
stands.
There has not been a single location in South Georgia this season that has reached 68 F at the 4-inch soil depth,
much less sustain that as a daily average temperature for at least 3 consecutive days. The rain we just got,
followed by low temperatures in the upper 40s through at least April 10 according to the extended
forecast. Thus, the 80+ F temps over the last few days (through April 2) are enough to be dangerous, causing
some growers to be “itching” to put some seed in the ground, but I don’t believe this would be a good idea
based on the forecast.
This forecast through April 10 leads me to believe we are still on target for initiating peanut planting no earlier
than around April 20, depending on the weather forecast beyond April 10. It will take several days with highs
in the 80s and lows in the mid-50s or higher to drive the soil temperatures back up toward 68 F and keep them
there for 3 consecutive days, so let’s be patient and not pull the planting trigger too early so we are not having
to face less than optimal plant stands or be faced with the decision of possibly having to replant
Later,
Rome