SHARE:  

Faulkner County Agriculture Update

August 2, 2024

Faulkner County 4-H'er Kacie Clark wins the Governor's Award!


Congratulations to Kacie Clark for winning the 2024 Governor's Award for 4-H. This is the biggest award a 4-H'er can receive. We are super proud of her and she really deserves it!


Kacie is the third member of her family to be a finalist for the Arkansas 4-H Governor’s Award, and on July 24, she clinched the highest honor awarded in Arkansas 4-H and received a $3,000 scholarship.


Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced Clark, 18, as the winner in a recorded message played during the Arkansas 4-H Awards of Excellence ceremony at the University of Arkansas.


“I feel like I’m going out with a bang,” Clark said of her 13 years in 4-H. “I feel very honored. All of us have done so much in 4-H. Any one of the other finalists would have deserved it.”

Sign up for Text Alerts


You can now sign up for text alerts from me throughout the year. I have two areas you can sign up for which includes Faulkner Livestock or Faulkner Ag (Row Crop Updates). To sign up you can follow one of these links or use the QR Codes below.

Faulkner Livestock


Use either the QR Code or this link:

https://slktxt.io/10lLe

Faulkner Ag (Faulkner Row Crops)


Use either the QR Code or this link:

https://slktxt.io/10lLc

General Conditions

Weather


Well the wildest July I ever remember on record is over and August has started just like a typical hot August. We really climbed into the high temperatures this past week and you can feel it. I had gotten use to the mild 80's and this week took it out of me.

The high temperatures continue into next week with some daytime highs predicted to be over 100 degrees. There is a small chance of rain by the end of next week, but we shall see if they stick around. I feel like we are finally getting into that typical hot and dry weather pattern.

Arkansas River

Drought Monitor
US Drought Monitor
Row Crop

River Valley Row Crop Tour


The River Valley Row Crop Tour will be held on August 13, 2024 starting at the Schaefers Grain Bins on Taylor Circle. We will meet there around 1:30 and drive down to the rice plots before traveling back to Lollie. This is the tentative agenda.


1:30 - 1:45 Meet at Schaefers Grain Bins

2:00 - 2:30 Rice ARPT Plot

2:30 - 3:00 Travel back to Lollie

3:00 - 3:30 Corn Hybrid Trial

3:30 - 4:00 Syngenta Soybean Plots

4:00 - 4:30 Soybean Variety Trial

4:30 - 5:00 Spray Drones

5:00 - Sponsor Introductions and Dinner at Schaefers Barn at Lollie

Rice


Rice stink bug counts continue to come in under threshold. For right now, the majority of the rice is headed out and they have a lot of places to go. As the first planted rice starts to mature we turn into the opposite of how we started. Those stink bugs will start looking for less mature heads to go to and the latest planted fields could see numbers continue to grow. We aren't out of the woods yet but things are getting brighter.


I have already had some questions about turning off the pump. Remember that we are looking at 100 degree days coming up and water evaporates at a much higher rate during those temps. We don't want to quit to soon and hurt our rice yield. I understand you don't want a muddy field at harvest, but I am a little conservative when it comes to turning off the water.


Drain rice based on two conditions, time AND maturity:

• Rice crop should be 25-30 days past 50% heading (25 days for long-grain, 30 days for medium grain).

• AND on silt loam soils panicles should have 2/3 straw-colored kernels; or on clay soils panicles should have 1/3 straw-colored kernels prior to draining.

• For furrow-irrigated rice, irrigate at or slightly past typical drain timing for flooded rice to ensure adequate soil moisture to full maturity. Under dry environmental conditions, irrigate at least one additional time past typical drain timing.


Below is the link for last Friday's Rice Update from Dr. Jarrod Hardke.

Arkansas Rice Update 7/26/24

Soybeans


Scouting soybeans this week I caught green and brown stinkbugs in older soybeans and corn earworms in some of the later planted beans. I didn't catch anything that was at threshold but the corn earworms are getting close. We need to be at about 6 to 7 earworms per 25 sweeps on soybeans that have started blooming or are putting on pods.


I know it wasn't that long ago we got some significant rains, but with the temperatures we have had you have to be careful about waiting too long to start water on these soybeans. Get the pivots going if you are getting dry because you don't want to get behind.

Corn


I walked a few corn fields this week and all of them are done for the year. We have some really late planted fields that will need some more attention, but for the most part everything has moved enough to stop irrigation. I would say that I have noticed that southern rust has really moved in a few fields this week, and we are far enough along in those fields to not worry about it but if you have a late planted field, keep an eye on southern rust.


The heat units were back up this week and this puts us at 2912 heat units for anything planted on April 1st, and that should be enough to be at black layer (R6). We are officially done and just waiting on harvest, which at these temperatures may not be that far off. This will be the last week for a heat unit chart.

2024 University of Arkansas Corn College, August 7, 2024


The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture will host a Corn College on August 7, 2024, at the Lon Mann Cotton Research Station at Marianna.

 

The Corn College will offer 6 stops with hands-on training on various aspects of corn production and will include weed control programs, insect and disease identification and management, irrigation management, nutrient deficient identification and management, and agronomic considerations.


Continuing education credits will be available. Lunch will be provided.


The training will begin with registration from 8:00-8:30 am, and tours will start at 8:30 am and will conclude by 3:30 pm. 


Registration is $100/person and you must be registered by August 2, 2024.

Registration for Corn College

Corn Earworm Moth Traps


The trap at the Cadron Farm exploded this week. We had 198 moths in that trap which is twice the alert level to start scouting for worms. The other two traps down in Lollie where still low.

2024 County Trap Catches
Arkansas Crop Progress and Condition
Beef, Small Ruminants, & Forages

Armyworms Update


Armyworms are bad again in the county. I have had several calls week about large numbers of armyworms in hayfields. If it is time to harvest the field, I would mow it down. But if it is still early and you have a mix of big and small worms, I would spray.


We have had reports of Lambda Cy and Dimilin not giving adequate control. This picture shows worms that were sprayed with those insecticides and they continued to eat grass. I have also had reports that this combination worked enough that the producers were fine with the few that were left. So even though Lambda Cy and Dimilin are the cheapest insecticide mix it may not be the best. I was told once that the most expensive control method is the one that don't work.


Here are your options.


The most economical control is a mix of Lambda Cy and Dimilin. Pay attention to the mix of your Lambda Cy, it comes in two different strengths, a 1 pound material and a 2 pound material. This will determine how much you spray per acre.


1 pound material - 4 ounces per acre

2 pound material - 2 ounces per acre

Dimilin - 2 ounces per acre


They other option is more expensive but will give you better control and a much longer residual.


Vantacor - 0.9 ounces per acre

Besiege - 6 ounces per acre


If you are also trying to control bermudagrass stem maggots, then use Besiege. Vantacor does not get the stem maggot fly.

Webinar “Abortion and Respiratory Diseases in Sheep and Goats”


This webinar will be on August 27 (Tuesday) from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m (CT) promoted by the University of Missouri .


The guest speaker is Dr. Maggie Highland, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVP.


The loss of lambs and kids due to abortion directly reduces the number of offspring, impacting the overall productivity and profitability of the flock. Respiratory diseases can impair productivity which translate into financial loss for the producer. Managing outbreaks of abortion and respiratory diseases often requires significant intervention, including diagnostics, treatments, and preventative measures.


Dr. Highland is the section head of pathology sciences, Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, University of Wisconsin-Madison. She maintains a strong interest in small ruminant health and disease, particularly infectious disease processes and immunology.

This webinar is hosted/facilitated by Dr. David Brown (University of Missouri Sheep & Goats Specialist). 

Register for Webinar
Cattle Market Notes Weekly
Livestock Market Report

The weekly livestock market report is available on the Arkansas Department of Agriculture website.
ADA Livestock Market Report
Upcoming Events

Row Crop Field Day - August 13, 2024

Contact Kevin Lawson, County Extension Agent–Agriculture, Faulkner County | Kevin Lawson
uaex.uada.edu/faulkner