A ‘Swiss Army Knife’ Approach Why not tackle as many problems as possible from the get-go?
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mergence and seedling vigor are critical to a successful crop. Getting over the first hurdle of pest pressure is also crucial for achieving good yields. Those early season problems include both nematodes and thrips. Timing and waiting on the proper soil temperatures, plus special attention to what is added in the furrow at planting will help the crop get its best possible start. Uniformity and quick canpy coverage will shade the ground for developing pegs, but it all starts with planting and selecting in-furrow pest products. Too Early Can Lose The Advantage “You can stack it up any way you want, but the earlier you try to plant a peanut, the more problems you’re likely to encounter,” says Jack Royal, crop consultant in Leary, Georgia. “You want that plant to pop out of the ground as quickly as possible and roar off to a good start. You can’t do that when soil temperatures are too low — sometimes even if the temperatures are marginal. “If you get a cold snap immediately after planting, there’s a good chance you’ve lost any advantage you thought you had by itching to get that planter in the field.” Royal says he hopes no peanuts hit the furrow until soil temperatures are at least 70 degrees or higher. “Anything sooner than that, you might as well be playing blackjack,” he says. “You might get lucky, but they don’t build those casinos on a house of cards. They build them on statistics and years of research.” Manage Multiple Problems At Once While some growers balk at the price of AgLogic aldicarb, Royal says it’s worth the investment. “AgLogic aldicarb has made a significant difference in our ability to produce cotton and peanuts,” he says. “The seed treatments have lost effectiveness due to resistance. “Most of my cotton growers use standard seed from the manufacturer if they put aldicarb under their cotton. That saves them about $18 to $20 an acre, which goes toward AgLogic. We’re back to a better place for managing nematodes, thrips, spider mites and other early season pests. “Peanuts are similar. Most of the same problems found in cotton are also in peanuts.” Take The Worry Out Of Early Pest Pressure Blakely, Georgia, grower Sam Hattaway agrees. “Thrips and aphids are always an obvious concern,” he says. “Using AgLogic comes with the added advantage of nematode control. Other options to control nematodes are expensive.” AgLogic aldicarb applied in furrow on peanuts is registered 18 /
THE PEANUT GROWER • MAY 2021
Dan Anco, Clemson University Extension peanut specialist, says early closing of rows to shade the ground for developing pegs is an important step to a successful peanut crop.
at 7 pounds per acre at planting and 10 pounds per acre post-emergence. All applications should be incorporated into the soil. “It’s been very good for us,” Hattaway says. “It takes a lot of worry out of the early season pest pressures, so we can deal with other problems that always seem to pop up.” Picking Up Where It Left Off It’s not particularly easy to reinstate a research initiative after a product like aldicarb has been off the market for five years. In addition to a new name, growers, consultants and researchers have questions about why they are even interested in a product that has been around for more than four decades. Turns out, the answer is similar to what it was in the ’70s. “Even before I arrived, aldicarb has been a consistent performer in our trials early in the season for years to control PEANUTGROWER.COM
