Johnston County Ag Report
0 votes
Ag Report
June 27, 2008
NC Cooperative Extension – Johnston County Center
Submitted by: Bryant Spivey, Ron Hughes, Eric Spaulding
DRY WEATHER AFFECTS TOBACCO
The Johnston County Tobacco crop is being adversely affected again this year drought. June has been a dry month with some areas of the county receiving less than 1 inch of rainfall during the month. This dry weather has resulted in reduced crop growth. The areas that are most severely affected include the Bentonville and Meadow Communities in the Southern portion of the county. Growers that have irrigated tobacco have seen significant growth differences when compared to non-irrigated tobacco.
Drought conditions delay maturity of tobacco and can significantly change leaf characteristics. Sunscald, along with the drought stress, will likely reduce yield and quality of lower stalk tobacco. If rains eventually come, upper stalk tobacco will continue to fill out and improve. Tobacco is an extremely tough and drought tolerant plant. Tobacco can wait for rain and still produce good yields. It is simply too early to pass judgment on the 2008 tobacco crop.
MORE DISEASE ATTACKS TOBACCO
It already appears that Granville Wilt will be much worse in Johnston County tobacco this year that it was last year. Granville Wilt is most active when soil moisture is good and temperatures are warm. Soil moisture was plentiful during the early growing season and temperatures have been high on several days. Many Johnston County fields have 1 to 2% Granville Wilt right now and some fields have much higher levels of this disease.
Granville Wilt is caused by a soil-borne bacteria. Growers can manage this disease by using crop rotation, resistant varieties, soil fumigation and other cultural practices. It is important to correctly identify diseases during the growing season so that the grower can make appropriate adjustments in later years.
Early symptoms of Granville Wilt include wilting on one side of the plant. Affected leaves may yellow or even appear scalded. Eventually, most or all of the roots become soft and slimy. In addition, a tan or brown discoloration develops in the vascular tissue just beneath the bark. In time, affected plants normally die.
ANTICIPATED DROUGHT MANAGEMENT FOR LIVESTOCK
Believe it or not we are still at a rainfall deficit in the area. The county has had spotty rains, so some pastures are in good shape while some or already stressing. When high summer temperatures are coupled with low rainfall, forage production decreases rapidly reducing grazing availability and hay production.
Johnston County is prone to summer droughts. Just a couple of weeks of hot dry weather can completely stop the growth of cool-season grasses, which recover slowly even when the weather improves. Overgrazing cool-season forages during the summer reduces fall growth and may potentially lead to stand loss, especially with fungus-free fescue.
Warm season grass such as bermudagrass grows slowly in dry weather, but is not as susceptible to drought as the cool-season forages are. This forages is quick to recover once rainfall does come. Bermudagrass also tolerate close grazing better than the cool-season forages. Having about one-third of available acreage in some type of warm-season forage will help you manage summer droughts.
Early weaning should be considered when a summer drought hits. This will allow you to provide the high-quality forage that is available to the calves, while the cows can be maintained on low-quality hay or what is left of the pastures. If the breeding season is still under way (in spring-calving herds), early weaning will help get the cows bred back. If the cows are already bred (in fall-calving herds), early weaning will help get the cows back into condition for calving so that rebreeding performance will be good in the next breeding season.
If the drought continues to the point that pastures are grazed close and cows are losing condition, supplemental hay should be provided. A 30-day emergency feed supply (in addition to the winter feed needs) should be kept for such situations.
When feed shortage is a problem, one solution is to pregnancy test and cull any open cows and cows that are over 10 to 12 years of age. This will make the feeding situation better for the younger cows and replacement heifers.
After last years dry summer and a possible sort term drought consider taking a closer look at the farm's stocking rate. If grass runs out rapidly every time there is a dry spell, the farm is probably overstocked. If there is a lot of low-quality forage after a long drought, the farm is probably under-stocked. A properly stocked farm should be somewhere in between, and should run out of grass in a long drought.
TOBACCO, SOYBEANS, & CUCURBITS DISEASE FORECASTS
Current Disease Forecasts for Tobacco Blue Mold, Soybean Rust, and Cucurbit Downy Mildew can be obtained through the North American Plant Disease Forecast Center at NC State University. The center provides timely information on the occurrence and future movement of these devastating diseases. For Tobacco Blue Mold information visit http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/pp/bluemold/ . For Soybean Rust information visit http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/pp/soybeanrust/ . For Curcubit Downy Mildew information visit http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/pp/cucurbit/ .
HUMAN HEAT STRESS
Heat stress precautions are advised with the onset of summer temperatures. Farmers as well as anyone working outside should remember to consider the need for heat stress precautions and education of others. The NC Department of Labor has great resource materials on Heat Stress at http://www.nclabor.com/osha/etta/A_to_Z_Topics/heat_stress.htm .
PEST NEWS HOTLINE
Cotton Insect Hotline information is available by phone at 1-800-662-7301 (then enter 4) OR on the internet at http://ipm.ncsu.edu/cotton/InsectCorner/ . Pest News Updates for Cotton and Soybeans can be obtained through NCSU’s NC Pest News website at: http://ipm.ncsu.edu/current_ipm/ind08fie.html .
ENERGY WORKSHOPS
The Center for Environmental Farming Systems in collaboration with the National Center for Appropriate Technology will be hosting two back-to-back full day workshops on on-farm energy conservation and use. The first will be held on July 10th and will explore on farm energy use and conservation, renewable energy options, enhancing energy efficiency on the farm, the latest in carbon credits, and potential funding sources for on-farm energy projects. Workshop participants will have the opportunity to construct a solar heating system to supplement the propane heat used in greenhouses..
The second workshop will be held on July 11th and will be a hands-on workshop led by Matt Rudolf of Piedmont Biofuels teaching on-farm production of biofuels from seed crushing to end-product. For more details and registration information, visit their website at: http://www.cefs.ncsu.edu>www.cefs.ncsu.edu .
JULY GARDENER’S DIRT ISSUE
The July issue of The Gardener's Dirt has information on things to do in the garden, fall webworm is the insect this month, and the feature story focuses on a number of different methods for capturing and storing rainwater. A list of some upcoming events and classes are also included. The newsletter is available on-line at http://johnston.ces.ncsu.edu/content/gjuly08 .
SUMMER POND MANAGEMENT
When a pond is over run by aquatic weeds many people want to immediately spray chemicals. This is not always the right way to go for good weed control. There are a few steps to follow when aquatic weeds are a problem or if they have taken over the pond.
The first step when dealing with an aquatic weed problem is to identify why the problem exits. Simply having water and soil samples from a pond tested will explain a lot. For chemicals to be effective, the pond will need to be in the right condition to break down the herbicides. Testing the water and soil will determine what management practices will follow for best results.
The proper way to collect soil samples is by getting small cup size amounts of soil from different areas of the pond. Gather all soil samples on a flat sheet of plastic. Let the sample dry for a few days, then send it into the Agronomic Division in Raleigh via their soil box. Soil boxes can be obtained for free at the Johnston County Cooperative Extension Office. This soil test is free.
Water samples will only need to be collected from one part of the pond unlike the soil samples. More accurate results can be obtained when the water is collected 12-18” below the surface of the water. Solution analysis tests only cost $5.00 for North Carolina residents. Plastic containers are preferred to put water samples in. Before filling a pint or quart container, rinse the container thoroughly with water. Once at the pond, triple rinse the container again using the pond water to be collected. By attaching a plastic container to the end of an extendable pole, it can be placed in the water to collect the samples easily. When collecting the sample of water hold the plastic container upside down when it is placed in the pond. Invert the container attached to a pole only when it is at the desired 12-18” below the surface to insure the collection of water at that depth.
During times when temperatures are in the 90’s, precautions need to be taken to prevent fish kills. High temperatures lower oxygen levels in water. Decaying weeds remove oxygen from water and some chemicals cause fish to stress. One or a combination of these stresses could result in fish kills.
To maintain a healthy pond make sure to check the soil and water twice a year. Your local Extension Agents can provide assistance and advice in managing ponds, minimizing likelihood of fish kills and in taking water and soil samples. Johnston County Extension agents can be reached a 919-989-5380 with any other questions that you may have about ponds.