Tag Archives: pests

2020 Four Rivers Agricultural Conference – Providence Forge, VA

The 2020 Four Rivers Agricultural Conference will be held Tuesday, Jan. 14 at Providence Forge Recreation Center: 9900 Carriage Rd, Providence Forge, 23140. This year’s conference will include pesticide certification training, several Specialists and Agents from Virginia Cooperative Extension that will cover a wide variety of topics, and others. In addition, you will be able to get your dicamba herbicide certification with training being offered by Don Cline of BASF. We look forward to seeing your there for a great day of learning and interaction with the experts. Lunch will be provided. Agenda detail are below.

Full Attendance to the conference has been approved for Private Pesticide Applicator Recertification in Category 90 and Commercial Categories 1A, 10, and 60.  The conference has also been approved for 2.5 Virginia Nutrient Management CEU and 2.0 Contact hours for DCR Conservation Planner Re-Certification

9:00        Registration Opens/Meet with Vendors

9:30        Welcome

9:35        Controlling your Drops highlighting dicamba and glyphosate– Laura Maxey-Nay, Hanover Ag Agent

10:00     Pesticide Training – droplet size/playdough- Ed Olsen, Henrico Ag Agent

10:30     Pesticide Legal Update – Robert Christian, VDACS

11:00     2nd round of registration for those not needing pesticide recertification credit

11:15     Dicamba Certification – Don Cline, BASF

12:15     Sponsored Lunch/Meet with Vendors

1:00        Agency updates

1:15        Grain Market Update- Robert Harper, Manager, Virginia Farm Bureau Grain Division

1:45        What I learned from Argentina Agriculture, pest control and nutrient management –Paul Davis

2:05        Corn Update and Hybrid Selection, Dr. Wade Thomason, Extension Grain Agronomist

2:35        Break (visit with sponsors)

2:50        Positioning Your Full-Season Soybean for Maximum Yields, Dr. David Holshouser, Extension Soybean Agronomist

3:20        Making insect management decisions now by purchasing seed for next season, Sally Taylor, Extension Grain Entomologist

3:50       Nematode Panel, various specialists will discuss current nematode control practices.

4:50       Adjourn and paperwork

Walk Your Fields

For greater soybean yields, one of the best things that you can do is walk your fields.  Many problems reveal themselves during the summer.  Actions taken or not taken can be very noticeable.  By walking fields, we can see what’s working and what’s not working.  Certain problems can be solved, some cannot.  For those that cannot be solved this year, we can do better next season by understanding why we have the problem.  Therefore, a review of how to diagnose your crop will likely beneficial.

A few years ago, I published “Troubleshooting The Soybean Crop“.  Although a little dated, most of the information is still good.  This publication will guide you through how to go about diagnosing problems, includes a vegetative- and reproductive-stage outline with lots of photos, and also includes a sample crop scouting and diagnostic form.  You can download a view a PDF copy, or contact me – I still have a few hard copies left.  By following some general guidelines, one can become quite good at diagnosing problems.  Below is a summary.

First, document everything!  Memories tend to fade.  We often forget or overlook details. You can document by taken notes (many phone apps or iPad/tablets work well for this).  Make a recording.  Take pictures – this is especially useful when you need help – and send those photos to others.

PRELIMINARY FACT FINDING.  You can obtain plenty of information before you even get to the field.  Although I call this preliminary (as if you’ve not seen the problem), you may need to go back to the office to refresh your memory of what you did.  Information that can be acquired beforehand or back in the office includes:     

  • Cropping History
  • Equipment
  • Soil Information
  • Weather
  • Pest Management Information
  • Tillage and Other Cultural Practices

THE FIELD VISIT

  • Take all materials and equipment needed (e.g., phones, paper, shovel, plastic bags, soil probes, etc.)
  • Windshield/Whole Field Investigation
  • Above-Ground Inspection
  • Take Appropriate Plant or Soil Samples
  • Equipment Check
  • Interaction with Others
  • Document Everything!

ANALYSIS OF DATA AND FINDINGS

  • Patterns
  • Look-Alike Symptoms
  • Interacting Factors/More Than One Problem

DRAWING A CONCLUSION. Review the facts and data.  Eliminate unlikely causes.  Validate likely causes.  You may be able to drawn a conclusion in the field, but lab analysis may be needed.

FOLLOW UP. Revisit the field.  If you took corrective action, did it work?  Why or why not?

This is a very rough outline of the guide.  Again, if you want a hard copy of Troubleshooting The Soybean Crop, contact me.