Quincy, Marianna,
Monticello, Live Oak
Research and Extension Updates
Vol. 3 No.
23 November 5, 2001
From the Director: As we begin our third year of publishing the newsletter, we would like to extend a thank you to our readership. Our goal is and has been to provide the faculty in the county extension offices with the latest news, dates, and other information from the various disciplines of research and extension programs which take place at NFREC-Marianna, Quincy, Monticello and Live Oak. We hope you are able to use information from ongoing research in your county newsletters and education activities. If you would like additional information, contact the faculty member author
or our editor,
Regards, Dr.
Dates of
Interest:
November 1-11: North Florida Fair, Tallahassee
November 5: Sugar Cane Giveaway, NFREC-Quincy
November 8-9: Annual Tomato Disease Workshop,
November 13: Cow-calf Seminar Tuesday, Agriculture Center,
Marianna 6:00 PM
November 13: Florida Drip Irrigation School, NFREC-Suwannee Valley
November 28-December
2:
Farm Bureau Beef Cattle Marketing Tour of Oklahoma
More on Dates: You should try to make plans to visit the North Florida Fair sometime between now and
November 11!! Lots of folks have done some outstanding exhibits for display that thousands of visitors will enjoy
this year. Setting up recently were Gadsden, Jefferson, Escambia, Santa Rosa, Gulf, Liberty, Bay counties and others.
The NFREC exhibit on display is a “feast for the eyes.” Contrary to the norm, Dr. Ann Blount has signs saying, “Please touch” the cotton, soybeans, peanuts, and more! The NFREC display has been a popular feature in the Agricultural Building
during the past few years. Dr. Steve Olson has provided some beautiful watermelons, tomatoes, and pumpkins this year.
It’s a visual delight, and there’s an abundance of educational information.
Many extension folks were seen at the Fair just prior to opening day: Lawrence Heitmeyer, (Leon County Extension Director). Lawrence is superintendent of the beef cattle and also a member of the Board of Directors for the Fair. Setting up in the agricultural building were Larry Halsey, (Jefferson County Extension Director), and all the hard-working and friendly agriculture, 4-H, and FCS agents from throughout the panhandle. Faculty and volunteers were busy with the judging of 4-H projects; a rainbow of ribbons flutters among the talents of our youth.
Some of the county displays highlight their Farm Family of the Year. All of the Farm Family award recipients were honored recently at a special banquet at the Silver Slipper Restaurant. Executive Secretary/Manager of the North Florida Fair,
Ron Beckey, welcomed and congratulated the farm families. Dr. Pete Vergot, District 1 Extension Director, introduced the county directors, who then introduced their farm families.
J J J
See you at the
North Florida
Fair!
J J J
NFREC HISTORY
“This Station’s
research program involves specific problems in the production of cigar-wrapper
tobacco, general field crops, pastures and livestock.” (1940 Annual Report)
TRIVIA
Dr. Bob Myer, NFREC-Marianna, shares this: It is physically impossible for a pig to look up in the sky.
(Pork, Summer, 2001)
SMALL GRAINS
There
is a good resource booklet on southern small grains that is now available on
line. I have given some hard copies of it to several counties, but Larry Halsey
sent me the web site. Ron Barnett and David Wright are co-authors. Check it
out.
http://www.ces.uga.edu/pubcd/B1190.htm
(Blount, NFREC News 3-23)
CHLORPYRIFOS PRODUCT
CANCELLATIONS ANNOUNCED
EPA has issued an order deleting
uses and canceling products containing the insecticide chlorpyrifos. This order covers 76 products that are
canceled and 18 products for which labels are modified to delete uses affected
by the agreement. The agreement requires
deletion of the following uses:
-- All termite control uses (these will be phased
out, and the concentration of chlorpyrifos in the products will be limited
during the phase-out);
-- All residential uses (except for ant and roach
baits in child resistant packaging (CRP) and fire ant mound drenches for public
health purposes by licensed applicators and mosquito control for public health
purposes by public health agencies);
-- All indoor non-residential uses (except ship
holds, industrial plants, manufacturing plants, food processing plants,
containerized baits in CRP, and processed wood products treated during the
manufacturing process at the manufacturing site or at the mill);
-- All outdoor nonresidential sites (except golf
courses, road medians, industrial plant sites, fence posts, utility poles,
railroad ties, landscape timbers, logs, pallets, wooden containers, poles,
posts, processed wood products, manhole covers, and underground utility cable
and conduits; and
-- Fire ant mound drenches for public health
purposes by licensed applicators and mosquito control for public health
purposes by public health agencies).
The last date for retail
sales of products included in this notice bearing instructions for the
prohibited uses is December 31, 2001. Sales of preconstructon termite use
products (with reduced concentration of chlorpyrifos) will end December 31,
2005, unless EPA issues a written determination that the use may continue. Except for manufacturing-use and
preconstruction termite-use products, existing stocks of products listed in
this notice may be used until they are exhausted, in accordance with existing
labeling.
(Sprenkel, NFREC News, 3-23)
Ornamental
Grass Evaluation
Top Native Grasses – Part Deux
Jeffrey G. Norcini and James H. Aldrich
After the second year of a 3-year ornamental grass evaluation, the number of top performing native grass species has narrowed. Only muhly grass and purpletop performed consistently well in both the Leon and Santa Rosa County gardens in 2000 and 2001.
Gulf muhly usually can be purchased at local retail nurseries that sell native plants. Availability of purpletop is very limited, so the best chance of finding it for sale is from a nursery specializing in native plants. Hopefully though, the good performance of purpletop may encourage its production.
Chalky bluestem, Alamo switchgrass (a selection native to Texas but developed for use throughout the southern U.S.), and bigtop lovegrass failed to consistently attain the relatively high ratings noted during the 2000 growing season (see Ornamental Grass Evaluation: Top Native Grasses in NFREC Newsletter Vol. 2, No. 22, http://nfrec.ifas.ufl.edu/News_Letters/ NEWSLETTER_2_22.htm). Because several of the chalky bluestem and bigtop lovegrass plants had poor or no regrowth after the winter 2000 pruning (especially at Leon County), these species seemed to act more like annuals or short-lived perennials. Alamo switchgrass tended to lodge at Leon County, which was the major reason for its poorer rating this year.
The on-going study in Leon and Santa Rosa Counties
will help to determine long-term performance of these native species (and
several nonnative species as well) under low input landscape conditions (see Ornamental
Grass Evaluation Gardens in NFREC Newsletter Vol. 2, No. 6, http://nfrec.ifas.ufl.edu/NEWSLETTER_II_8.htm).
To gain access to the gardens, contact Will Sheftall or David
Marshall at the Leon County Cooperative Extension Service, and Mack Thetford at
the West Florida REC.
Purpletop (Tridens
flavus) Gulf
muhly (Muhlenbergia capillaris)
(Norcini and Aldrich, NFREC News, 3-23)
Nematicide Application In Cotton Using GIS/GPS Technology
R.E. Baird, J. R. Rich, and D. Waters
Utilization of GIS/GPS technology
is rapidly becoming important in agriculture, among other things, to reduce input costs and/or more effectively
target crop production inputs. However,
little work has been devoted to using technology to manage plant-parasitic
nematodes. In fact, the study below is the only one currently published from
the U.S.
Three field
trials were conducted on a farm comparing standard single-rate to variable-rate
applications of Telone II and Temik 15G on the growth of cotton and soil
population densities of the southern root-knot nematode.. A 100 acre field was subdivided into 1 acre
grid areas by using a global positioning system (GPS). Soil samples for nematode analyses were
obtained from each grid area, and maps
depicting the range of root-knot nematode second-stage juvenile population
densities were created. Variable rates
of Telone II and Temik 15G were applied using prototype equipment designed to
enable site-specific applications based on nematode densities which varied among
the field plots. During the two growing
seasons, plant stands and nematode population densities generally did not
differ among the treatments. The
variable-rate Temik 15G applications did not show yield advantages over the use
of standard single-rate applications of
this nematicide. Variable-rate
applications of Telone II, however, produced either similar or significantly
greater yields than the single uniform rate applications. The cost of soil sampling and analysis needed with variable-rate application of Telone II was offset by the savings
obtained from reduced total chemical usage in both years. This study indicated the value of utilizing
GIS/GPS technology to lower chemical
input costs and/or provide environmental benefits in the management of
root-knot nematodes in cotton.
(Rich, NFREC News 3-23)
Thought for the Day: Any good thing
you say to me shall not be forgotten.
Ten Bears
Cheryl
Vergot,
Public Relations NFREC - Quincy, U/F IFAS
E-Mail: cvergot@ifas.ufl.edu
Phone:
(850) 875-7112
The
Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is an Equal Employment Opportunity Affirmative
Action Employer authorized to provide research, educational information and
other services only to individuals and institutions that function without
regard to race, color, sex, age handicap or national origin.
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EXTENSION WORK IN AGRICULTURE, FAMILY & CONSUMER SERVICES, STATE OF
FLORIDA, IFAS, UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, AND
BOARDS OF COUNTY COMMISSIONER COOPERATING
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Institution