08/30/1995

AU Field Day Gives Wiregrass Farmers a Look at Upcoming Technology

HEADLAND, Ala. - More than 150 Wiregrass area farmers met recently at the Wiregrass Substation to hear and see the latest research findings from tests on cotton and peanuts.

The meeting, co-sponsored by the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station and Alabama Cooperative Extension Service at Auburn University, featured tours of cotton and peanut research plots and explanation of these projects by researchers from Auburn University.

Of particular interest to peanut growers was test being conducted by Ron Weeks, who is an area extension entomologist and researcher in the Ag Experiment Station. Weeks showed growers three management systems for peanuts: low input costs of about $144 per acre, high input costs of about $252, and costs determined by an integrated pest management program of about $196 per acre.

"The IPM approach allows growers to make more informed decisions on inputs to the crop. We can see differences among the three treatments, but the IPM approach seems to be holding up well with the high input treatments. When we harvest the plots we will get a true idea of the benefits of each treatment and where the reduced cost helped or hurt in yield and quality," Weeks pointed out.

Peanut and cotton growers alike were interested in a test monitoring the effectiveness of Cadre, a new herbicide being groomed for the peanut market. The herbicide did an excellent job on sicklepod, beggarweed, nutsedge and other weeds that are troublesome for peanut growers. However, it has a limiting factor, according to AU researcher Mike Patterson.

"Cotton has become a popular rotation crop for peanuts in the Wiregrass and Cadre has a nine- to 18- month recropping restriction for cotton following peanuts. The recropping limitation will probably limit its application on peanuts," the Auburn researcher predicted.

Most of the peanut growers attending the meeting had never seen wild peanuts, which grow wild in South American landscapes. Auburn researcher Jim Bostic showed the visitors wild peanuts from Bolivia, Argentina and Brazil. As part of the annual Peanut Variety Trials, Bostic has planted at the Substation 21 varieties of peanuts currently available to growers and seven more that are part of the Uniform Peanut Performance test.

AU PNUT is not a new variety, instead it is a weather-based forecasting system that tells growers when to apply pesticides. Though the forecast system has been used effectively for several years, researchers are looking at extending the parameters, according to Auburn researcher Ellen Bauske.

Researchers took weather data from the Substation and applied to farmers fields up to eight miles away, with comparable results at both locations in predicting timing of leafspot sprays.

Though a long-running project, rotation tests with such exotic crops as velvet bean, castor, and sesame continue to draw attention at field days. Auburn researcher Rodrigo Rodriguez-Kabana pointed out to the crowd that velvet beans exude a compound that is toxic to nematodes and can reduce populations by 95 percent. By comparison, cotton following peanuts reducing nematodes about 70 percent. Sesame is a particularly promising rotation crop, because it has a high market value, requires little maintenance, and reduces nematode levels as much as cotton, according to the Auburn researcher.

The field day was the last to be presided over by Substation Superintendent Henry Ivey, who is retiring Sept. 1, after nearly 30 years at the Wiregrass Substation.

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News from:

Office of Ag Communications & Marketing

Auburn University College of Agriculture
Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station
3 Comer Hall, Auburn University
Auburn, AL 36849
334-844-4877 (PHONE) 334-844-5892 (FAX)

Contact Jamie Creamer, 334-844-2783 or jcreamer@auburn.edu
by Roy Roberson

August 30, 1995