Farm Progress

LSU's Winnsboro AgCenter hosts field day, expo, showcases research.

Ron Smith, Editor

June 29, 2018

22 Slides

Participants in the recent LSU AgCenter Expo and Field Day saw ongoing research in corn, cotton and soybeans across multiple disciplines, heard updates on cotton seeding configurations, soybean seeding rates, herbicide injury symptoms, resistant bollworm management, disease management and policy changes that may affect cover crop termination.

An Expo offered participants an opportunity to see the latest in equipment, technology and services.

LSU Extension specialists on hand offered updates on crop conditions and ongoing challenges with insect pests, diseases and weed control.

Across the state, specialists said, a cool, wet planting season limited early growth for corn and soybeans. That cool, wet period was followed by hot and dry conditions that further delayed crop growth.

Cotton, said Extension agronomist Dan Fromme, experienced an almost ideal planting season but suffered from "abnormally dry” conditions after emergence.

Sebe Brown, Extension entomologist, said drought and nonuniform cotton stands were making insect control more difficult, with plant bugs and thrips requiring control at the same time.

Soybean specialist Todd Spivey added that soybeans were delayed early, hampered by drought, and will need timely rainfall to make decent yields.

Related:Drought conditions limiting disease pressure in Louisiana row crops

Pathologists Boyd Padgett and Trey Price noted that early disease pressure has been light, thanks to dry conditions, but warned that rainfall could spike infections.

Weed scientists Daniel Stephenson, Donnie Miller, and Josh Copes demonstrated symptoms of misapplied herbicide injury, pointing out that damage from some herbicides is hard to distinguish.

About the Author(s)

Ron Smith

Editor, Farm Progress

Ron Smith has spent more than 30 years covering Sunbelt agriculture. Ron began his career in agricultural journalism as an Experiment Station and Extension editor at Clemson University, where he earned a Masters Degree in English in 1975. He served as associate editor for Southeast Farm Press from 1978 through 1989. In 1990, Smith helped launch Southern Turf Management Magazine and served as editor. He also helped launch two other regional Turf and Landscape publications and launched and edited Florida Grove and Vegetable Management for the Farm Press Group. Within two years of launch, the turf magazines were well-respected, award-winning publications. Ron has received numerous awards for writing and photography in both agriculture and landscape journalism. He is past president of The Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association and was chosen as the first media representative to the University of Georgia College of Agriculture Advisory Board. He was named Communicator of the Year for the Metropolitan Atlanta Agricultural Communicators Association. Smith also worked in public relations, specializing in media relations for agricultural companies. Ron lives with his wife Pat in Denton, Texas. They have two grown children, Stacey and Nick, and two grandsons, Aaron and Hunter.

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