Mississippi Crop Situation Podcast

Goosegrass Problems in Midsouth Row Crops

Larry Steckel from the University of Tennessee calls into the Crop Doctors’ Podcast studio in Stoneville to discuss what have become annual problems controlling annual grass in row crops.  Larry, Jason, Hunter, and Tom hit a range of topics related to grass management.  The take home messages are that grass control has been a problem across the area in recent years.  Chemical antagonism and herbicide resistance are factors in reductions in control, but there are other factors that influence the effectiveness of herbicide applications as well.

Perennial Problems with Rhizome Johnsongrass

Daniel Stephenson from the LSU AgCenter called into the Crop Doctors’ Podcast studio in Stoneville to share his experiences with rhizome johnsongrass problems in Louisiana.  Multiple resistant johnsongrass has spread to different regions of Louisiana.  Most recently, populations of evolved resistance to the ACCase herbicides like clethodim. Rotating to corn or sequential treatments with glufosinate (Liberty 280, etc.) are the best options for managing this species currently. 

Catching up with Catchot

Angus dropped by the Crop Doctors’ Podcast studio in Stoneville to visit with Jason and Tom about his role as the Associate Director of the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Experiment Station.  His primary responsibilities are for operations, which means Angus spends his time trying to insure MAFES employees have what they need to best serve farmers and other stakeholders in Mississippi.  

Harvest Aids in Mississippi Soybean

From the Crop Doctors’ Podcast studio in Stoneville, Trent,  Jason, and Tom discuss the use of harvest aids on soybean in Mississippi.  Suggested products are paraquat, Sharpen, sodium chlorate or paraquat plus sodium chlorate applied no earlier than the R6.5 stage of growth.  They also discuss weather scenarios that might influence the timing of use of harvest aids in soybean. 

Farm Stress and Emergency Preparedness

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

Agricultural Autonomy for Mississippi

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.

When Do We Stop Irrigating Soybean?

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. 

Growers Can Apply Now for the Climate Smart Cotton Program

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.

Moving from Public to Private Work with Bobby Golden

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. 

Life Lessons from Stoneville, MS

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.