Doane Daily Cotton Commentary

DTN: Opening Cotton | Closing Cotton

COTTON NEWS:

Doane: Cotton closed strongly lower Fri., 10-24: Heavy selling hit markets amid concerns that economic outlook could be darker still. (Read More)

Closing Cotton, 10-24: Heightened Recession Fears Haunt Cotton (Read More)

Virginia Cotton, 10-24: Price Fallout - Safety Nets in Place (Read More)

Opening Cotton, 10-24: Cotton Plunges As Outside Markets Dive (Read More)

Keith Good's Farm Policy News, 10-24: Economy (Inflationary Concerns Subside), Food Aid-Prices, Doha (Ashton Comments), and Campaign Issues. (Read More)

Jurgens Bauer's Cotton Commentary, 10-24: Not Sure What is Going on in Cotton. (Read More)

Texas Crop and Weather Report, 10-22: Cool, wet weather slows cotton (Read More)

Florida Agronomy Notes, November: Cotton defoliation; wheat planting (Read More)

Georgia Seminole Crop E-News, 10-20: Good cotton picking weather; whiteflies a problem for late-planted soybeans; plan ahead before planting wheat (Read More)

Cotton farmers sue after Reinhart bankruptcy filing, 10-18: 200 or so farmers filed suit against Reinhart and eight banks (Read More)

Field Notes (Central Miss.), 10-20: What happened to the optimism? (Read More)

Nunn Cotton Letter, 10-19: Friday's close was the first positive in weeks. (Read More)

Georgia Cotton Marketing News, 10-17: For many farmers, cotton still crop of choice in non-irrigated situations (REVSION: beginning of 3rd paragraph -- prices have "dropped around 20 cents since late August", not 30 cents) (Read More)

Mississippi Ag Report, 10-17: Cotton production; rice area harvested; grain stocks; winter wheat acreage; catfish county estimates; catfish imports and exports; pecans. (Read More)

Georgia: UGA Research Helps Farmers 'Hire' the Best Cotton, 10-16: What do plants really do during the growing season? (Read More)

Reinhart Cotton, 10-4: East Arkansas cotton middleman plans lawsuit against merchant (Read More)

Arkansas:

Cotton growers keeping an eye out for boll rot

By Mary Hightower

Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service

August 28, 2008 – Arkansas cotton growers are keeping an eye on their fields to see if the plentiful rain of the last two weeks has promoted boll rot, said Dr. Tom Barber, extension cotton agronomist with the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture.

 Farmers have received much-needed rain, but that much water can be a double-edged sword for Arkansas’ cotton growers, said Barber

“We had a lot of rain in the southeast – anywhere from 2 to 10 or 11 inches in downpours,” Barber said.

“The fields that are receiving the highest amounts of water seem to be in a rainfall cycle, where we’re seeing it every four to five days,” Barber said. “Because of this, in these irrigated fields, with a dense cotton canopy and long periods of cloudy weather, boll rot will definitely increase on the lower position bolls.

“Depending on the extent of the rot, we could see a yield decrease because the majority of our crop is set toward the bottom of the plant,” he said. “Sunshine is the best cure for this.”

The rain is giving cost-battered growers a chance to stop spending.

“It’s saving us money right now.  We’re not having to turn the wells on,” Barber said.

There are a couple of ways the recent downpours could cause a little trouble. Boll rot may become the biggest issue on irrigated cotton with all the rainfall.

On fields without irrigation, re-growth could be troublesome.

“About 15% of the crop is non-irrigated, and on these areas is where we’ll get a lot of re-growth in the top of the plants from the moisture,” he said.

“Now that we’ve got rain, we have some residual nitrogen and fertility under the crop without moisture,” Barber said. With the rain, “it’ll cause a green-up period, and it’ll cause the plants to bush out there with not much on it.”

According to the Arkansas Agricultural Statistics Service’s crop report for the week ending Aug. 24, cotton opening bolls reached 7% by week’s end.  The service also said top soil moisture supplies were 5% short, 70% adequate and 25% had a surplus.