Scattered thunderstorms early in the week blessed some folks with up to 3 inches of rain. Showers were few and spotty and generally the Concho Valley is still very dry. Grain sorghum in Western Runnels and Tom Green Counties is progressing well and most of it is in the milk to soft-dough stage. False chinch bugs and stink bugs can easily be found in many of these fields. Grain sorghum in other areas of Runnels County is having a difficult time with the dry conditions. It's questionable how much of it will head out without a significant rainfall soon.

Cotton ranges in growth from 2nd true leaf to ½ grown square stage. Large variation in growth stages this year.

The irrigated cotton looks great and is progressing nicely. Dryland cotton where moisture is adequate is also progressing well but fleahopper infestations remain high and square sets low. Grasshoppers continue to increase the size of turnrows in fields planted adjacent to pastures. Worst areas are those fields in Southern Tom Green County and just North of Ballinger and up FM 2111 towards Wingate. Grasshoppers can be found throughout many of the infested fields and damage looks similar to the damage caused by deer. Much of the terminal area has been destroyed.

Sorghum fields, which are uniform in maturity and has reached the milk to soft-dough stage, should be monitored for the pressure of stink bugs, false chinch bugs and headworms.

Many fields were sprayed this week for stink bugs and/or false chinch bugs. Insecticides currently being used to control stink bugs and/or false chinch bugs are Karate®, Dimethoate (Cygon®) And Baythroid®. Dimethoate will not control headworms but does an excellent job on the other pests.

False Chinch Bugs. The false chinch bug resembles the chinch bug but with more uniform color, ranging from gray to brown. False chinch bugs are 1/10 inch long. Multitudes of the insect occasionally migrate from wild hosts, such as the wild mustard, to sorghum, but these insects usually concentrate in small areas of a field.

Bugs suck juices from developing sorghum kernels and, to a lesser extent, from other grain head parts, and may cause economic damage.

Southern Green Stink Bug. The southern green stink bug is about 3/4 inch long, green and somewhat shield-shaped. Females deposit 300 to 500 eggs in clusters of about 30. The eggs hatch in about seven days, reaching the adult stage in about six weeks.

Conchuela Stink Bug. The conchuela stink bug varies in color from dull olive or ash gray to green, purplish pink, or reddish brown. The most characteristic markings are orange-red bands along the lateral margins of the thorax and wings and a spot of the same color on the back at the base of the wings.

Grain head-feeding bugs tend to congregate on sorghum grain heads and sometimes within areas of a field. Use the beat-bucket technique to estimate abundance.

To determine the profitability of controlling an infestation of green or conchuela stink bugs, consult economic injury tables listed below.

Table 1. Economic injury level based on number of adult southern green stink bugs, conchuela stink bugs and leaffooted bugs beginning at the milk stage of kernel development.

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Table 2. Economic injury level based on number of adult southern green stink bugs, conchuela stink bugs and leaffooted bugs per sorghum grain head beginning at the soft-dough stage of kernel development.

The lack of moisture in many areas is becoming critical and management decisions concerning fleahoppers is a difficult one. Do we load up now and get our crop set, waiting on that rain that may or may not come later? And how much later? Areas that received 1.5-2.5 inches of rain this week are in a much better situation than those in Winters, Wingate, Ballinger and Lowake. It remains quite dry in these areas.

Cotton fleahopper populations remain high and square sets range from 48 to 86 percent. Most dryland fields range around 65 to 70 percent. I think this is adequate right now in a situation like this wheremoisture conditions are limited.

The irrigated cotton has been treated and numbers are generally lower and square retention is good to very good. The irrigated cotton is progressing well. We began picking up a small egg-lay last week and egg counts have generally increased this week. Moth-trap catches were high last week as well. This egg-lay usually does not amount to much. We will just have to wait and see.

There is a Conservation Tillage Tour scheduled and sponsored by the Southern Rolling Plains Cotton Growers Assoc. on Monday, July 9, 2001. Dr Billy Warrick and Mr. Charles Stichler will be present to discuss the various conservation programs and answer any questions you may have on the practices. They will also have an Equipment demonstration. Listed below is the schedule for the Tour.

1. Begin the tour at 8:30 a.m. at the Richard Pelzel Farm (see map, enclosed, for new location). Depart for Billy & Ken Halfmann's Farm at 9:00 a.m.(see map, enclosed, for new location and time)

2. Arrive at Halfmann farm by 9:30 a.m.
Depart for Fred Wilde Farm at 10:00 a.m. (third stop rather than second stop).

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3. Arrive at Wilde farm by 10:30 a.m.
Depart for Dennis Minzenmayer farm (Hatchel) at 11:00 a.m.

4. Arrive at Minzenmayer farm at
11:30 a.m. Final stop for tour. Conclude the program by noon.

Equipment Demonstration:
1. Have hooded sprayer available with water in tank to demonstrate.
2. Have planter on the tractor to demonstrate, if available, planting in residue.

A map is attached for your convenience.

We will have two on Tuesday and two on Wednesday unless otherwise notified in the newsletter. The schedule for next week's turnrow meetings is:

Tuesday, July 10th
Westside Gin 8:30 a.m.
Mereta Co-Op 1:00 p.m.

Wednesday, July 11th
Ballinger Coop 8:30 a.m.
Wingate Gin 1:15 p.m.

A Forage Sorghum Tour will be held on Wednesday, July 18 at 6:00 p.m. at the Glenn Halfmann farm located off FM 1692 near the Miles Coop Gin.

The tour will focus on a variety test plot including seventeen forage sorghum varieties planted May 15, 2001. Dr. Billy Warrick, Extension Agronomist from San Angelo, will discuss forage sorghums for production of hay crops. A complimentary evening meal will be provided by Hytest Seed following the tour. Please RSVP to the Runnels County Extension Office at 365-2219 by Tuesday, July 17 so that meals can be prepared.

By Frank J. Dainello
Editor

With the increasing level of sophistication of detection devices available today, substances can now be found that were not detectable just a few years ago. Consequently, undue alarm is often generated by reports that a 5 to 10 ppm (parts per million) of some pesticide residue was found in a given produce item. In most cases, these levels are so small that they cannot constitute a health risk. The following, taken from a newsletter of the Associated New York Food Processors, may help to visualize just what is meant by these values.

Think of one part per million as 1 inch in 16 miles; 1 minute in 2 years; 1 cent in $10,000.00; 1 ounce of salt in 31 tons of potato chips; 1 bad apple in 2,000 barrels.

One part per billion compares with 1 inch in 16,000 miles; 1 second in 32 years; 1 cent in $10 million; 1 pinch of salt in 10 toms of potato chips; 1 lob in 1,200,000 tennis matches; 1 bad apple in 1 million barrels.

It is not uncommon today to find a report detecting ppb (parts per billion) of something in a produce item. Considering that there are 1,000 million in a billion, I personally find it hard to show much concern over foreign residues of the magnitude of 5 to 10 ppb!

Educational programs conducted by the Texas Agricultural Extension Service serve people of all ages regardless of socioeconomic level, race, color, sex, religion, handicap or national origin. The information given herein is for educational purposes only. References to commercial products or trade names is made with the understanding that no discrimination is intended and no endorsement by the Cooperative Extension Service is implied.