Alex Thomasson is the Director and Madison Dixon is the Associate Director of the newly formed Agricultural Autonomy Institute at Mississippi State University. Alex and Madison recently spent some time with Jason and Tom in the Crop Doctors’ Podcast studio in Stoneville to visit about the present and future of autonomous vehicles and operations for agricultural systems in Mississippi. Mississippi State is a leader in research for agricultural autonomy, and the endless possibilities in this area are already being seen at the ground level in the state.
In this timely episode, Dr. David Buys, State Health Specialist with Mississippi State Extension, and Dr. Damon Darsey, a rural emergency medical physician and the Mississippi Highway Patrol’s medical director, are back in the Crop Doctors’ Podcast studio in Stoneville to visit with Jason and Tom about farm stress and emergency preparedness. Harvest season is a stressful time of the year in agriculture, and many distractions occur in the field and on the road. Drs. Darsey and Buys talk about things that can be done in advance to prepare for possible emergency situations. This episode is longer than we usually do, but these guys are exceptional at what they do, so we didn’t want to cut the episode short.
More information on Dr. Buys’ programs related to farm stress can be found at http://extension.msstate.edu/health/the-promise-initiative/farm-stress
From the Crop Doctors’ Podcast studio in Stoneville, Trent, Jason, and Tom discuss the use of harvest aids on soybean in Mississippi. Suggested products are paraquat, Sharpen, sodium chlorate or paraquat plus sodium chlorate applied no earlier than the R6.5 stage of growth. They also discuss weather scenarios that might influence the timing of use of harvest aids in soybean.
Angus dropped by the Crop Doctors’ Podcast studio in Stoneville to visit with Jason and Tom about his role as the Associate Director of the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Experiment Station. His primary responsibilities are for operations, which means Angus spends his time trying to insure MAFES employees have what they need to best serve farmers and other stakeholders in Mississippi.
Daniel Stephenson from the LSU AgCenter called into the Crop Doctors’ Podcast studio in Stoneville to share his experiences with rhizome johnsongrass problems in Louisiana. Multiple resistant johnsongrass has spread to different regions of Louisiana. Most recently, populations of evolved resistance to the ACCase herbicides like clethodim. Rotating to corn or sequential treatments with glufosinate (Liberty 280, etc.) are the best options for managing this species currently.
Larry Steckel from the University of Tennessee calls into the Crop Doctors’ Podcast studio in Stoneville to discuss what have become annual problems controlling annual grass in row crops. Larry, Jason, Hunter, and Tom hit a range of topics related to grass management. The take home messages are that grass control has been a problem across the area in recent years. Chemical antagonism and herbicide resistance are factors in reductions in control, but there are other factors that influence the effectiveness of herbicide applications as well.
Brian visited the Crop Doctors’ Podcast studio in Stoneville to offer a late-season status report on the cotton crop across Mississippi. Extreme dry weather in south Mississippi has led to the crop in that part of the state being classified as poor in many areas. In other areas, the cotton crop is progressing at a more traditional pace with defoliation the next major input for the crop. Defoliation information can be found in the Midsouth Cotton Defoliation Guide at https://www.mississippi-crops.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/2022_Midsouth-Cotton-Defoliation-Guide.pdf. Look for updates to this guide soon.
Dr. Wes Lowe is a repeat guest and an assistant professor from the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at MSU. He and first-time guest Dr. Mike Mulvaney, an agronomist in Plant and Soil Sciences, visited the Crop Doctors’ Podcast studio in Stoneville to talk about their work in advanced planting technologies. This work is looking at ways to increase planting speed in soybean as well as evaluating different equipment modifications to make the increased speed a reality for farmers in Mississippi.
September is National Rice Month. MSU Extension Rice Specialist Dr. Hunter Bowman visited the Crop Doctors’ Podcast studio in Stoneville to talk with MSU Extension specialists Drs. Jason Bond and Tom Allen about late-season observations, harvest progress, and outlook for the future for rice in Mississippi. Upcoming rice events include the Rice Festival on September 21 in Merigold (http://deltaricepromotions.org/rice-festival/) and the Delta Rice Meeting on November 15 in Cleveland.
Dr. Corey Bryant, MSU Extension Agronomist specializing in soil fertility, sat down in the Crop Doctors’ Podcast studio in Stoneville to visit with Drs. Jason Bond and Tom Allen about soil sampling. Topics includes sampling depth, timing, strategy, soil moisture, and which nutrients could be applied in the fall.