TRAIT STEWARDSHIP RESPONSIBILITIES NOTICE TO FARMERS
Bayer Company is a member of Excellence Through Stewardship® (ETS). Bayer products are commercialized in accordance with ETS Product Launch Stewardship Guidance, and in compliance with Bayer’s Policy for Commercialization of Biotechnology-Derived Plant Products in Commodity Crops. This product has been approved for import into key export markets with functioning regulatory systems. Any crop or material produced from this product can only be exported to, or used, processed or sold in countries where all necessary regulatory approvals have been granted. It is a violation of national and international law to move material containing biotech traits across boundaries into nations where import is not permitted. Growers should talk to their grain handler or product purchaser to confirm their buying position for this product. ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW PESTICIDE LABEL DIRECTIONS. It is a violation of federal and state law to use any pesticide product other than in accordance with its labeling. NOT ALL formulations of dicamba, glyphosate or glufosinate are approved for in-crop use with XtendFlex® Cotton. ONLY USE FORMULATIONS THAT ARE SPECIFICALLY LABELED FOR SUCH USES AND APPROVED FOR SUCH USE IN THE STATE OF APPLICATION. Contact the U.S. EPA and your state pesticide regulatory agency with any questions about the approval status of dicamba herbicide products for in-crop use with XtendFlex® Cotton. B.t. products may not yet be registered in all states. Check with your representative for the registration status in your state. Products with XtendFlex® Technology contains genes that confer tolerance to glyphosate, glufosinate and dicamba. Glyphosate will kill crops that are not tolerant to glyphosate. Glufosinate will kill crops that are not tolerant to glufosinate. Dicamba will kill crops that are not tolerant to dicamba. Contact your seed brand dealer or refer to the Bayer Technology Use Guide for recommended weed control programs. Insect control technology provided by Vip3A is utilized under license from Syngenta Crop Protection AG. Bollgard®, Respect the Refuge and Cotton Design®, Roundup Ready Flex® and XtendFlex® are registered trademarks of Bayer Group. LibertyLink® and the Water Droplet Design® are registered trademarks of BASF. Agrisure Viptera® is a registered trademark of Syngenta Group Company. Excellence Through Stewardship® is a registered trademark of Excellence Through Stewardship. All other products, company names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Before opening a bag of seed, be sure to read, understand and accept the stewardship requirements, including applicable refuge requirements for insect resistance management, for the biotechnology traits expressed in the seed as set forth in the Technology/Stewardship Agreement that you sign. By opening and using a bag of seed, you are reaffirming your obligation to comply with the most recent stewardship requirements. 6
COTTON FARMING | MARCH 2022
Drones And Data Virginia Researchers Make Their Mark In Precision Agriculture BY MARY HARDBARGER
O
n the E astern Shore of Virginia, drones hover in the sky collecting data to be analyzed on the ground. The results are tools growers can use to tackle pests and manage the nutrients that help them thrive. Students and faculty stationed at the Eastern Shore Agricultural Research and Extension Center, situated on a 220-acre farm in Painter, Virginia, use advanced technologies to improve the practices of large- and small-scale farming operations, which face the ongoing challenges of water and pest management. Though founded in 1956, the Eastern Shore facility has evolved into a stateof-the-art station, where researchers — using groundbreaking drone and data analytic applications — are making their distinct mark in precision agriculture to ensure the Eastern Shore remains a leader in commercial agriculture production. ‘Sky-Level’ Water Management
A dry summer sends the Eastern Shore into a drought. Crops are stressed and in desperate need of water. Exactly how much water does the farmer need to deliver? What water requirements rest below? Emmanuel Torres Quezada is trying to answer that question from above. Quezada is a horticultural cropping systems Virginia Cooperative Extension specialist and an assistant professor of horticulture stationed at the Eastern Shore facility. Most of his research is focused on innovative cultural practices, such as irrigation management. During his first few years at the center, he will work to identify crop water requirements in the Eastern Shore. Adhering to his innovative approach, he is using drones as his “eyes” in the sky to assist in this research. One of the technologies the researchers use is remote sensing, meaning using multispectral cameras to identify crop stress. From the indexes that collected
from cameras mounted on drones, the researchers can make decisions about the crops below. “An exciting part of this research is that we can take the data that we generate from the cameras and try to correspond that data to other factors, one of them being irrigation,” Quezada said. “This results in different methods that we can use to estimate the water requirement for different plants using cameras instead of having to measure the water in the soil or measuring the water on the plants.” Over time, Quezada said, the ultimate goal is to deliver this technology to growers. “I want to make the production systems that we have in place more accessible and efficient for growers in the sense of an increase in yields and a decrease in costs,” he says. Tracking Pests
An Eastern Shore farmer inspects a hard-labored cornfield and finds the crop overcome with cutworms, a common corn insect pest. An obvious approach to ridding the rows of bugs is the use of pesticides. However, there are other options to consider. These alternative practices are what Lorena Lopez, an entomologist and postdoctoral student at the Eastern Shore Agricultural Research and Extension Center, is currently exploring. Lopez specializes in integrated pest management, a practice better known as IPM. “IPM is using an ecologically-based approach to manage pests,” Lopez says. “It includes different combinations of pest management techniques, such as cultural practices, biological control, habitat manipulation and the use of chemicals.” Lopez tests this approach on vegetables and small fruits, such as strawberries and blueberries. Continued on page 12 COTTONFARMING.COM
