HEAT UNIT ACCUMULATION UPDATE

As of August 22, 2002:

Insect problems with bollworms in cotton are decreasing overall in Crosby and Floyd Counties with only a few wide-spread program fields requiring chemical intervention. Populations generally remain well below threshold levels but on occasion have been in excess of 15,000 small worms per acre. Insect problems in cotton are not over with yet this year. Fields need monitoring every four days if irrigated and still containing blooms and lush growth.

Beet armyworm flare-ups continue to be reported in program cotton but none have had to be treated to date.
Aphid problems in program cotton fields no longer exist. Only occasional honeydew-covered leaves remind us of their brief presence. Beneficial insects have certainly increased but now are forced to feed on thrips in the blooms or each other as aphids have disappeared.

Bollworm, budworm and beet armyworm moth catches as of August 22th are:

West Nile Virus is still very much in the news in Floyd and surrounding Counties of Texas. Information regarding WNV may be researched on the TDH website at tdh.state.tx.us or by calling your local Texas Department of Health office. Another site is http://eit.tamu.edu/westnile/ which is a streamed video conference conducted this last week in San Antonio by Texas Cooperative Extension, District 10. Each county extension office is supposed to receive a videotape entitled "West Nile Virus : A Survival Guide" in the very near future.
Dr. Paul Glasson, D.V.M. (I apologize for calling him James last week) in Lockney is an excellent local source of information on this devastating disease.

Boll weevil trapping data (Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation) has remained on track in both the Southern Plains/Caprock and in the Northern Plains Zones with 0.002 and 0.003 weevils/trap, respectively. The Southern High Plains/Caprock and the Northern High Plains Zones have treated approximately 296,000 and 136,000 acres of cotton, respectively, for boll weevils as of August 18, 2002.

Upcoming meetings of interest are:
August 27 - Floyd County Farm Bill - Unity Ctr.
28 - West Texas Ag. Chemical Conference
29 - Caprock Ag. Tour
30 - Cotton Turn Row with Dr. Randy Boman (details attached )
September 10 - Floyd County Ag. Tour
Call for additional information - CEU's provided at West Texas Ag. Chem. Conf. and at the Cotton Turn Row meeting on the 30th.

Steve Davis
Extension Agent-IPM
Crosby/Floyd Counties

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