Start scouting for armyworms in wheat. Check Rick Cartwright's disease monitoring newsletter for additional details on threshold requirements and treatment options. USDA estimates Arkansas producers will plant 170,000 acres, compared to 180,000 in the year 2000. Fertilizer should be applied based on soil test. In-furrow insecticides are highly recommended in southern Arkansas.
Atrazine continues to be the herbicide of choice for most weed situations.
Where broadleaf signalgrass occurs, Dual, Frontier and Lasso herbicides are best when applied pre-emerge. Few reports of cutworms are being received, and scouting should continue. USDA estimates that 160,000 acres will be planted in 2001, compared to 150,000 acres in 2000. Sorghum yields have been good the last two years, and sorghum is a non-host crop for nematodes. Marginal, non-irrigated fields appear to be the ones farmers are planting to milo, since milo is more drought tolerant.