Dry weather considerations

As I am writing this, a few drops of much needed rain are falling here at the Extension office and there is more rain in the forecast. Drought is the word that has been on every farmer’s mind over the past few weeks and the crops show signs of stress. Hopefully a few good rain events will bring us out of this drought. Water is the number one concern now, but here are a couple things to keep in mind as the growing season continues.

Dry weather has been helpful when it comes to disease pressure. Without moisture present, plant pathogens cannot become more serious, they may still be present, but they can’t spread. A good example of this is bacterial wilt. Bacterial wilt is soilborne and is spread through splashing of soil particles onto the leaves caused by rainfall. Without rainfall, there can be no spread. Be wary of disease pressure when we get moisture once again and of course be on the lookout for other diseases spread by other vectors.

Unfortunately, most insects have not been negatively affected by the dry weather and in some cases the lack of rain has caused them to flourish. Spider mites thrive in dry conditions and love plants under stress like we have now. Be on the lookout for these pests until the rainfall occurs. Spider mites can be washed from the leaves of the crops by rain and prevent the need for treatment to get rid of them. Stink bugs also seem to be undeterred by the dry weather. Thresholds for treatment of stink bugs can be found through NCSU entomology. Part of this threshold that should be heavily considered especially after a drought is the potential crop yield. Some crops, mainly earlier-planted corn, have taken a substantial hit to potential yield by being stressed during pollination and grain fill.

Weeds are taking advantage of crop growth slowing. Palmer amaranth and other pigweed species originated in desert environments and are outcompeting crops that have slowed or stopped growth. In this situation comes another decision, herbicides can damage crops when they are healthy, and stress can amplify this damage. Should you kill the weeds and damage the crop or wait until after a rain event to minimize damage and risk the weeds getting too big to control effectively? These are the types of decisions farmers are forced to make both in good times and not so good times.

On a final note, hurricane season is upon us again. At this point I don’t think the rain would hurt us much, but the wind could be a different story. Be prepared. Have a plan for your home and your farm. At home, have a supply of food that won’t go bad when the power goes out and plenty of bottled water. On the farm be sure to provide food, water and shelter to livestock and have a plan for when the power goes out. If you have any questions, please contact the Sampson County Extension Office at 910-592-7161 we would be more than happy to help.