Mississippi Crop Situation Podcast

In this timely episode, 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, are back in the Crop Doctors’ Podcast studio in Stoneville to visit with Jason and Tom about farm stress and emergency preparedness.  Harvest season is a stressful time of the year in agriculture, and many distractions occur in the field and on the road.  Drs. Darsey and Buys talk about things that can be done in advance to prepare for possible emergency situations.  This episode is longer than we usually do, but these guys are exceptional at what they do, so we didn’t want to cut the episode short. 

 

More information on Dr. Buys’ programs related to farm stress can be found at  http://extension.msstate.edu/health/the-promise-initiative/farm-stress

Alex Thomasson is the Director and Madison Dixon is the Associate Director of the newly formed Agricultural Autonomy Institute at Mississippi State University. Alex and Madison recently spent some time with Jason and Tom in the Crop Doctors’ Podcast studio in Stoneville to visit about the present and future of autonomous vehicles and operations for agricultural systems in Mississippi.  Mississippi State is a leader in research for agricultural autonomy, and the endless possibilities in this area are already being seen at the ground level in the state.

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.