Extension Service hosts annual field day

Several Clay County agricultural producers gathered Wednesday, Aug. 19, to take part in the annual field day held by the Clay County Cooperative Extension Service.

The field day serves a vital purpose for Clay County agriculture, giving area growers a chance to see the results of different seed varieties grown on local soil. This offers producers a "trial run" of sorts to assist in determining what types of seed are the most viable for use in their own fields. Several different seed company representatives and varieties were on hand for the event.

"The field day also gives our local producers a chance to meet with experts from the university and learn more about what they've seen in other parts of the state and how that affects us here," said Clay County Extension agent Andy Vangilder. "These experts always have some useful information. They've spent years learning about whether that's weeds or pests, and it never hurts to listen to what they have to say."

The day began with the group assembling at the Rector Community Center. From there, the men, traveling in several vehicles, journeyed to the Scott Kirklin Farm south of Rector. At the Kirklin plot, the group viewed several corn varieties and heard from experts Dr. Jason Kelley and Dr. Ken Smith.

Dr. Kelley, an Extension grain specialist, discussed this year's crop. With heavy rains occurring during the traditional planting season in March and April, this year's corn was delayed. A similar situation occurred last year with early heavy rains. Much like last year, several fields had to be re-planted.

While Kelley said the decision to re-plant was the right choice, there are some problems facing local corn crops.

Deficiencies in sulfur and zinc are likely to hurt yields. Kelley said this is not a major concern, as many growers in the area have experience handling and overcoming such difficulties.

Another setback is tied to the weather. Due to the heavy rains slowing planting, the overall acreage of corn is down this year.

"A lot of people felt like they ran out of time," Kelley said.

Still, the overall feeling is this year's crop has fared pretty well despite the setbacks.

Corn treatments have been successful against pigweed, lending strength to other crops when the fields are rotated.

"Any time we can rotate the corn, it helps out other crops," weed scientist Dr. Ken Smith said.

Smith noted the current outlook for area corn crops is a positive one, with limited threats of the weed variety.

The group next journeyed to the Wayne Ingram farm near Holly Island to examine the effects of root-knot nematodes on soybeans. The parasite had a heavy presence in the field.

Root-knot nematode infestation can severely damage a crop, as the parasite weakens the produce, limiting the effectiveness of water and fertilizer.

Dr. Scott Monfort, plant pathologist, noted that of the 250-plus varieties of soybeans, only 16 resist root-knots. Monfort said growers could combat the parasite by rotating milo in their fields or using the resistant varieties.

Another factor which may help in the future is the current task underway by the Army Corps of Engineers, which is putting down 53 new wells along the St. Francis River levy.

The next presentation took place nearby at the Bret Palmer farm and featured cotton.

The prevalence of cotton in Arkansas continues to decline. With many growers opting to increase the production of soybeans for use in alternative fuels, the total cotton acreage in the state has dropped to an estimated 480,000 to 490,000 acres.

Brief discussions on cotton were led by Dr. Tom Barber, Extension cotton specialist, Dr. Gus Lorenz, Extension IPM coordinator, and Dr. Smith.

Dr. Barber said that while the total acreage for the crop is down, growers still are averaging yields of about 1,028 pounds per acre. With many crops planted late due to heavy rains, this year's cotton has been producing late and will require a strong September to lead into a strong harvest.

Dr. Lorenz said he feels the appearance of plant bugs on cotton is rising, with some growers in other parts of the state having sprayed five times to control the pest. He noted Palmer's field had been sprayed twice and looked "pretty good," noting plant bugs were not as severe in Clay County. He also encouraged growers to protect their crop through the end, but to routinely examine plants to avoid any unnecessary spraying in light of increased fuel and chemical costs.

Lorenz also said fall army worms are appearing in large numbers to the south, which could be headed this way.

Dr. Smith noted the difficulties in staving off Roundup-resistant pigweed. If the popular weedkiller does not work, he said, it's very hard to remove pigweed from the fields. One of the keys to avoiding the plight is to keep the field clean of weeds of any kind to avoid pollination and the potentially subsequent arrival of pigweed. Smith said some fields may have just a few pigweeds in them, which may not seem like a threat. However, he was quick to advise any farmer to remove any weed seen in their fields, as this year's few could lead to more in the future.

The final demonstration of the day was at David Cagle's soybean field approximately three miles south of Greenway. The group met with UA specialists Dr. Jeremy Ross, who focuses on soybeans, and Dr. Monfort, plant pathologist.

Ross said the biggest threat to soybeans at the moment is resistant weeds. Also, with the wet conditions, soybeans have not developed the strong root system they would typicall have, leaving them more susceptible to damage.

As far as resistant weeds, Smith said the technology behind Roundup is good and it still will be used. However, he noted the importance of using a pre-emerging herbicide in crops, noting test plots which have done so fared much better in trials.

According to Monfort, the recent weather has increased the potential of disease for soybean growers. Due to the recent wet weather, soybean diseases such as aerial blight and frogeye are more likely.

Asian soybean rust has been found in Chico County, but Monfort said it has been held at bay for the most part and he expects it to stay that way, at least for now.

Vangilder noted the eastern side of the county has done well in battling this season's conditions.

"Really, if you look around, we're blessed with what we've got considering where we started," he said.

Vangilder noted western Clay County has had a more difficult season and is not faring as well.

The day concluded at the Rector Community Center with a catered meal from Strawberry's, provided by the seed company representatives.