Recent Posts

  • The following is an except from a news release from EPA on 18 August 2021. The revocation of the tolerances for all commodities will be effective 6 months after the publication of the final rule in the Federal Register. “WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it will stop the use of the…

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  • There are two species of rootworm in Georgia peanut fields, the southern corn rootworm and the banded cucumber beetle. The immature or larval stage of both species feed on developing peanut pods and require moist soil conditions for survival. Rootworm infestations are typically found in fields with center pivot irrigation and heavier soil texture. With…

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  • Continued rainfall in Georgia is mostly good news for peanut growers from an insect management point of view (disease management is a different story, but Dr. Kemerait can tell that one). The most damaging pest of peanut in Georgia is the lesser cornstalk borer (LCB), and while it does not disappear when rainfall is plentiful,…

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  • Georgia peanut growers need to scout their fields this week for tobacco budworm. Infestations of this pest have been on the rise in peanut over the last fourteen days, and it does not take a lot of budworm caterpillars to cause significant defoliation when the crop is less than 50 days after emergence. We do…

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  • Thrippy Peanuts

    If you have been walking or riding through peanut fields in Georgia over the past week you have almost certainly noticed fields with thrips injury, or as some of my colleagues say, “thrippy peanuts”. Thrips injury varies in severity from minor feeding scars on fully expanded leaflets to severely deformed or dead terminal buds. Peanuts…

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  • The 2021 UGA Cotton-Peanut-Soybean Insect Scout School will be held on Monday, June 7 at the UGA Tifton Campus Conference Center in Tifton, GA. The scout school will also be held in East Georgia on June 15 at the Southeast Research and Education Center in Midville, GA. Scout school will begin at 9:00 AM and…

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  • Several folks have contacted me this week about large numbers of white-lined (aka white-margined) burrower bugs. Most of the bugs have been on volunteer peanuts, but some were on cotton seedlings. This insect is not the “peanut burrower bug” and is not considered a pest of peanut. While it can be very abundant early in…

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  • Thrips Season 2021

    Peanut planting season is also thrips season in Georgia, and growers need to be prepared to manage this tiny but damaging insect pest. I checked some volunteer peanuts in a Tift county field today, and they were LOADED with adult tobacco thrips. Recent research at UGA confirmed that thrips feeding injury can cause yield loss…

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  • It rained today, and the next couple days will be a great time to catch up on some UGA Peanut Team information as you get ready for the 2021 peanut season. This in-field interview with Mark Abney was produced by our friends at Florida for their winter grower meeting. If you found yourself wanting just…

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  • This short video demonstrates how to sample peanuts for foliage feeding caterpillars. Since velvetbean caterpillars and soybean loopers are currently present in Georgia, there is still time to use this information to help make management decisions. If you have any questions about insect management in peanut, contact your local University of Georgia County Extension Agent.

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