Curry Farms

Along my journey I met the Curry family who reside near Rayville, Louisiana. Mr. Bentley and his delightful wife Sandy open their home to their community each year. They have lived on this farm for most of their lives and have created a wonderland. You should see how beautiful it is!

There are pumpkin patches in their backyard. Also, they farm Christmas trees!! They invite friends, family, and community members to come and celebrate the fall season. People come from many miles away to gather a Halloween pumpkin and an authentic tree for their home.

There are goats, donkeys, chickens, and other critters roaming around. They love attention, and food of course. When I become a home owner later in life I hope to have several acres and lots of wildlife to share my afternoons with.



Last but not least there is a huge catfish pond! Perfect resource for a fish fry or relaxing on the dock. Their home is also open for birthday parties and carnival get-togethers! I just had to share these pictures because I had such a good time exploring. If you'd like more information about Curry Farms, please visit   http://www.curryfarms.net/CURRY_FARMS/HOME.html

Happy Monday!

Rice Field Days

So that's me in a rice field near Stuttgart, Arkansas last week. I was there for a rice field day put on by the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station. People from all parts of the community gathered at the Grand Prairie Center for free give-aways, informational booths, provided lunch, and rice plot tours. It was really a great networking event! Throughout the summer I have realized how important it is to reach out to anyone and everyone around you. If you're on a plane you should definitely introduce yourself to the person next to you - you never know who you are sitting by!!

Above is a rice plot. We talked about different rice varieties; which ones prosper in a range of temperatures, which ones battle disease well, which ones support high yields, etc.

Rice is a crop that is flooded - we actually want standing water (which is a disaster for most other crops). The piled up dirt surrounding the plots are called levees. They support the water and guide it along with gravity from the highest point in a field to the lowest point.

The leaves pictured above feature a disease called sheath blight. If this disease takes over the crop, a grower would be facing yield loss of up to 25% or greater! Not only do dollar signs raise a red flag, but the quality of the rice is also compromised after facing disease.

I'm sure glad there are chemical corporations out there to safely protect our food, right? ;)



Cotton was king!

Cotton was once king of the south, but that has changed throughout the years. Cotton is like a small child; it requires constant upkeep, tender care, and is expensive. Cost per acre can easily exceed $500 along the growing season. While I was in Arkansas I learned that just two short years ago, total cotton acres for the state was approximately 518,000. Today, Arkansas features about 350,000 acres. There are cotton gins across the south with worry on their face.

www.cotton.org states, "U.S. textile mills have spun almost 5 million bales of cotton on average for the past 3 years (2006-2008). That's enough cotton to make over 1 billion pairs of jeans."

I cannot stress how important cotton is. "One bale of cotton can make 1,217 men's T-shirts or 313,600 $100 bills." The crop is also responsible for the creation of an immense amount of biofuels. The United States historically exports about half our cotton to other countries around the world - imagine the money that brings into our economy!

Cotton has several growth stages. I am learning about them as we prepare for cotton defoliation season. Defoliation means taking all the leaves off the plant so that the cotton can be cleanly and easily harvested at maximum yields.

As you can see the flower blooms white, then turns red, and a cotton boll is revealed. The boll opens up over time and gives us mature cotton. Cotton can take anywhere from 130 - 160 days to complete this process.

Above is a picture of a boll weevil. "The boll weevil is the primary insect enemy of cotton. An adult is ¼ to ½ inch long, appearing tan to dark brown or gray in color, has a hard humpback-shaped shell and the characteristic snout accounting for about ¼ of its length. This pest has plagued U.S. cotton producers since 1892. It can complete an entire lifecycle in three weeks, lay 200 eggs per female–each in a separate cotton square or boll, ensuring the destruction of each–and spread rapidly, covering 40 to 160 miles per year. (www.cotton.org)"

Knowledge is power, folks!



Grain Sorghum

Pictured above is a grain sorghum field aka "milo". It is harvested primarily for livestock feed - chickens love it. When the crop is growing there are beautiful red and gold colors decorating the field.

The left picture is young grain sorghum and the right picture displays mature milo.

Above is a picture of the grain. I'm sure you can see a difference in health from one side to the other. The darker colored sorghum is the result of midge damage. Sorghum midge is an insect whose larvae feed on the seed ovary. This prevents normal seed development; infested heads appear blasted and produce small, malformed grain. To solve this problem I would recommend using Mustang Maxx(R), but of course you should talk with the FMC representative nearest you before making any final decisions. Mustang Maxx(R) is a fabulous insecticide we are pushing in the south for anyone up against worms, stink bugs, weevils, loopers, or aphids.



Honey Bees

“If the bee disappeared off the face of the earth, man would only have four years left to live.” -Albert Einstein

(picture from Google Images)

Today there is great concern about the endangerment of honey bees. Honey bees may seem like a nuisance on your back porch, but they are extremely important for anyone who plans to eat dinner tonight. Honey bees are responsible for pollinating over 90 different crops! www.pbs.org states,

"Indeed, one-third of the total U.S. diet is derived from insect-pollinated plants, so their survival, which is threatened by parasites, pesticides, habitat loss, and grazing practices, is incredibly important to maintain high levels of food production. Parasites are the primary reason honeybees are endangered."

These mites, Acarapis woodi, live in the trachea walls of the bees - they block oxygen flow and suck blood from the inside.

There are some other theories to explain the species loss. http://animal.discovery.com suggests that electromagnetic frequencies from cell phone towers are disturbing the communication among bees. Also I have seen several fingers pointed at genetically modified crops. Perhaps these GMOs provide poor nutritional value and affect the bee life cycle?

Whatever the real reason for the decline of the honey bees, it is something that should concern us all! Many people like to put all blame on pesticides, but it seems that most chemical companies are trying to help the situation. Working closely with EPA ensures that chemicals are safe for humans and the environment alike. Some companies provide miticides; a composition that could possibly kill the mite that kills the honey bee!

There are some suggestions on http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/may/13/wildlife.endangeredspecies
for what we can do to help honey bees.

1. Become a beekeeper
2. Help to protect swarms
3. Plant your garden with bee-friendly plants 
4. Buy local honey
5. Encourage local authorities to use bee friendly plants in public spaces
6. Learn more about the honey bee and inform others about this fascinating and endangered insect!

Making a Difference

Last week I was on the road in a new place each day. I spent Monday in Tunica, MS with a sales manager looking at soybean fields sprayed with Marvel^TM. The fields look healthy and productive which is what everyone wants to see this time of year.

Tuesday I was in Memphis at the Agricultural Research Center to participate in FMC plot tours. There was also a lunch conference that included many growers and retailers from the surrounding area. You can look at the untreated corn below and compare it to the treated corn to clearly see the difference. I don’t think it is any surprise to validate that the chemicals work wonders for high yields and healthy crops.

For the rest of the week the southern region team was in Kansas City, Missouri for a meeting and Driver Dynamics class. The driving class taught me about responsibility, defense, and safety. It was fun for the entire team; there were drills when we would speed the trucks up to 45 mph and slam on the ABS brakes between cones. Did you know that when your passenger puts their feet up on the dashboard they are in danger of an airbag taking their ankles past their earlobes? Not trying to frighten anyone…but let’s be safe on the road!

Kudzu Bugs

Pictured above are Kudzu bugs on a soybean plant at the agricultural research facility of the University of Georgia. Kudzu bugs migrated to the American southeast in 2009 and they are considered a major problem in crop production. They rob plants of nutrients and water with their piercing-sucking mouthparts; this causes significant yield loss. Kudzu bugs primarily feed on legumes such as kudzu or soybeans. According to the North Carolina State University Extension, these pests can cause up to 75% yield loss!!!

Georgia was a fun territory because of the diversity in crops. Most states I've been to are focused on corn, soybeans, rice and cotton. Georgia had pecan and peach trees, tobacco plants, vegetables such as cucumbers, squash, and onions, and fruit fields of cantelope. Everyone I met at different distributors was friendly and welcoming. I learn something new from every person I meet - one of the many reasons I love the South!