I have received reports of sorghum aphids being found in Lamb, Hockley, or Cochran Counties, but when I follow up, I have been finding everything but the sorghum aphid.
I do not doubt they are out there but be careful in scouting and identifying the species. Whorl feeding from fall armyworms has been catching a lot of attention but as the plant goes into boot these worms are cycling out. We continue to find grasshoppers along field margins. I would encourage producers to monitoring late planted grain on a regular basis for sorghum aphid, midge, worms, and spider mites.
Peanuts are doing well, but do not overestimate the rainfall. If the in-canopy conditions are too hot and dry at the surface around the crown of the plant this will make it difficult for the peg to penetrate the soil and fully develop a pod. It can also impact the flowering process. So far, a good pod set has been noted in most fields. Larvae feeding on foliage has been extremely light to-date. Leaf spot, pepper spot, and limb rot were seen 10 days ago but have been suppressed by current conditions. Any change in weather may change that. With the age of the peanuts, weather pattern and irrigation frequency a preventative fungicide would be highly recommended. Weeds continue to be challenging.
Cotton ranges from 1/3 grown square (not yet blooming) to blooming with 1-4 bolls formed in the bottom first positions with 8-5 nodes above white flower. Ideally, we would have everything blooming now and setting bolls. Currently only 50% of area fields are in bloom. We would like to be around 6-7 nodes above white flower (NAWF) at this time. Our target of 5 NAWF should be reached around August 1st-5th. This allows us to literally bloom out the top on our last effective bloom date of approximately August 15th-20th.
I have set aside fleahoppers in most all scouting fields now. I occasionally see a cotton aphid, but beneficial insects and spider numbers are very good. We need to be vigilant though as many of you are still fertilizing. This is the reason why I have been harping on getting fertilizer out by the end of July. Two things happen with late fertilizer on cotton – first it can delay cotton maturity, and second aphids love this late excessive nitrogen.
For more information on cotton aphid management, other insects, and their control see: https://lubbock.tamu.edu/files/ 2022/07/managing-cotton-insectsin-texas.pdf