Mississippi Crop Situation Podcast

Why Ag? Episode 7; Darrin Dodds; Starkville, MS

Darrin Dodds, Department Head for Mississippi State University’s Plant and Soil Sciences Department visits the Crop Doctors’ Podcast studio in Stoneville for an episode in the Why Ag series.  Darrin describes his route from rural western Illinois to many years as the Mississippi cotton specialist to ultimately leading a large academic department at a major land-grant university. 

Precision Ag Tools for MS Growers

Agricultural engineer Wes Lowe visits the Crop Doctors’ Podcast studio in Stoneville to discuss the precision agriculture tools Mississippi State University is involved in developing for growers in the state and region.  Wes, Tom, and Jason discuss a range of topics including how Wes evaluates potential new technologies and some of the tools he’s helping develop.  They spend quite a bit of time on precision weed control technology and tools Wes is working on to assist in irrigation. 

How is the Mississippi Cotton Crop?

Brian visits the Crop Doctors’ Podcast studio in Stoneville to visit with Tom and Jason on the current state of the cotton crop in Mississippi.  Topics include the environmental influence on where the crop is currently, variety types, PGR management, nematode considerations, and Brian’s late-season recommendations. 

Insect Pests in Cotton

From the Crop Doctors’ Podcast studio in Stoneville, Brian, Whitney, Tom, and Jason discuss the current status of cotton insect management.  Topics include plant bugs, spider mites, cotton growth stages for insecticide termination, and concerns with insecticide product supply.

Rice Weed Control with Connor Webster

Connor Webster from the LSU AgCenter calls into the Crop Doctors’ Podcast studio in Stoneville to talk about this year’s weed control in rice.  Connor is a recent graduate of LSU and began his job as the rice weed scientist earlier this year.  Connor, Hunter, Tom, and Jason spend awhile talking about herbicide carryover in rice and touch on new cases of herbicide resistance affecting rice in Louisiana. 

Jay Mahaffey with More on Cotton PGRs

Jay Mahaffey, manager of The Learning Center with Bayer in Scott, MS, visits the Crop Doctors’ Podcast studio in Stoneville for another deep dive on managing plant growth regulators in cotton.  Jay, Don, Tom, and Jason talk about the differences in cotton variety responses to PGRs. This one has a little of everything from PGRs to disease management to cotton variety history to Don’s musical preferences.

The Relationship Between Soil Fertility and Plant Diseases – Crossover Episode with The Dirt Podcast

Tom did a recent episode of The Dirt Podcast with Mike Howell from Nutrien. Tom and Mike discuss the interaction between plant nutrition and disease susceptibility. 

Why Ag? Episode 6; Bruce Bond; Portland, AR

Jason’s father, Bruce Bond, visits the Crop Doctors’ Podcast studio in Stoneville for an episode in the Why Ag series.  Mr. Bond describes his route from working as a forester to a career as a farmer in the Delta in southeast Arkansas along with many of the changes that have occurred in production agriculture over the years.

Farm Stress and Opioid Misuse in Agriculture

Repeat guest Mary Nelson Robertson visits the Crop Doctors’ Podcast studio in Stoneville to discuss her efforts with the PROMISE Initiative with Mississippi State Extension (http://extension.msstate.edu/the-promise-initiative).  In addition to the PROMISE Initiative, which is an acronym for Preventing Opioid Misuse in the Southeast, Mary Nelson’s other Extension areas include prescription opioid misuse, mental health first aid, and farm stress.  Mary Nelson communicates some staggering statistics related to opioid misuse and farm stress within the farming community.   

Mid-season Fungicide Treatments in Soybean

From the Crop Doctors’ Podcast studio in Stoneville, Tom and Jason have a one-on-one conversation about fungicide applications on soybean during reproductive growth stages.  Topics include the history of the R3/R4 automatic fungicide application, effects of fungicide treatments in the absence of disease, and crop injury following fungicide application.