Cover Crops: A Low Cost Alternative to Irrigation

Cover Crops: A Low Cost Alternative to Irrigation

Irrigation is expensive. And there are a lot of non-irrigated or “dryland” acres across the Panhandle. 2019 was characterized by persistent drought stress for much of the season (see below). So in a dry year like 2019, what are you supposed to do to manage...
USDA Commodity Costs and Return Estimates

USDA Commodity Costs and Return Estimates

Source: USDA Economic Research Service Cost and return estimates are reported for the United States and major production regions for corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, grain sorghum, rice, peanuts, oats, barley, milk, hogs, and cow-calf. The series of commodity cost and...
Why is There So Much Spotted Wilt in Peanut Fields this Year?

Why is There So Much Spotted Wilt in Peanut Fields this Year?

Ten years ago, I stood in a peanut field planted in late April surveying significant damage from spotted wilt.   One year later in 2010, and for the next 8 years, spotted wilt would not make a significant presence across the Southeastern Peanut Belt.  In fact, some...
Friday Feature:  Highlights from the 2019 UF Peanut Field Day

Friday Feature: Highlights from the 2019 UF Peanut Field Day

This week’s featured video was produced by the Panhandle Ag Extension Team.  This video provides a brief overview of the topics discussed at the 2019 UF/IFAS Peanut Field Day, that was held Thursday, August 15, 2019, at the North Florida Research and Education...
Early Season 2019 Peanut Disease Observations

Early Season 2019 Peanut Disease Observations

The peanut field conditions have gone from hot and dry in early June to a mix of wet and dry at the end of the month across much of Florida’s peanut production area (Figure 1).  The crop was definitely stressed by the drought and heat with Aspergillus crown rot...