Cotton: Hot and dry seems to be the story this week. Cotton has pretty much stopped growing unless it is irrigated and is just sitting there. Aphids have exploded this week and growers are now in the debate how much longer can we wait on the fungus to take them out. Spider mites are spreading fast across the dryland fields but not to a treatable level yet. Growers are running what they hope will be the last herbicide application and hand pulling the scattered pigweed that got away early. A lot of pigweeds that were plowed or pulled earlier have re-sprouted from that one root hair that was touching the soil and are just as healthy now as they were before they were pulled.
Corn: This weather has almost done the dryland corn in, it is fireing up the entire stalk and some ears are starting to drop prematurely. The oldest irrigated corn is approaching black layer within the next few days. Southern corn rust is still running through most of the corn around the county even though it has had 2 fungicide applications.
Peanuts: Lesser cornstalk borers are in every light textured soil field in the area. Lorsban is going out on some and Dimilin is being added to a lot of the fungicide applications as growers are trying to keep them in check waiting on a rain to hopefully slow them down some. The oldest peanuts are close to lapping and have a pretty good taproot crop set, while the youngest are only about 30 days just starting to bloom. Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus and Leaf Spot have started to jump on some fields even with a good fungicide program.
Vegetables: Most of the summer crops are well into harvest with most yields just being ok. They have had a hard time fighting the cowpea curculio in peas, even in fields that have not had peas in them in 50+ years.
Soybeans: Kudzu bugs are moving into to the older beans this week and we are picking up immatures as well as adults. The oldest beans are now moving into R3 and like everything else need a rain.
Source:uga.edu