Cotton – Midsouth – A Disjointed Crop Moves Into August – AgFax

OVERVIEW

More fields are at cutout or approaching it. Those fall into that general category of “cotton planted on time,” which is a smaller-than-average part of the crop this year through much of our coverage area.

Open weather has mostly been the case since our last report, but rains continue in parts of Louisiana where Hurricane Barry dumped substantial amounts a couple of weeks ago.

Plant bugs and bollworms are heavy in spots, but widespread problems haven’t developed.

Recent rains raise the prospects for target spot and other diseases.

Also of Note: In our links section, connect to a report from Tennessee on problematic grass control in Xtend cotton. Also, you’ll find Jeff Thompson’s latest market outlook and an overview on how corn might recapture acres from cotton in 2020.

CROP REPORTS

Trent LaMastus, Consultant, Cleveland, Mississippi:

“Our cotton ranges from the first week of bloom to 4 or 5 nodes above white flower. The crop is up and down, with fields that look great and others that are weak. I attribute weak areas to late planting on mixed to heavy ground and poor early development.

“We continue to dig around in blooms for escaped worms. That’s in both Bollgard 2 and Bollgard 3 – some with insecticide, some without. We find an occasional 2- to 3-day-old worm under bloom tags going into bolls.

“Aphid pressure has passed, although spider mites have been widespread and applications have been made, mostly in combination with other treatments.

“Growers are waiting to see if the predicted rains fall today (7/29) and tomorrow before irrigating. If we don’t get rain, we’ll start pumping later this week.

“Our corn is through and looks good. If the weather holds, at least one grower will cut a sample this week.

“Soybeans range from V-12 to R-5.7. Bollworms are building in much of the late-planted crop, and we treated several fields last week. We’ve put Heligen in some beans with moderate populations.”

Lee Rogers, Rogers Entomological Service, Steele, Missouri:

“We’re treating plant bugs full swing, and aphids are increasing. Plant bugs are at threshold in some fields. Where we treated last week, plant bugs are below threshold but remain a threat.

“Target spot is a large concern and fungicide treatments are likely. Rain is coming, and a string of cloudy days will likely follow. I’ve seen some of the ‘weird-looking’ cotton around. It isn’t widespread here, but it’s more prevalent in certain areas.

“We’re ready to finish this cotton and are going heavily with Pix to maintain control. It’s been a frustrating season in many, many ways.

“In soybeans, we’ve dodged major pest problems with only a few stink bugs – greens and browns – and worms.”

Larry Walker, Walker Cotton Technical Services, Flintville, Tennessee:

“Over 5 inches of rain fell across several recent events. Much of the cotton has been blooming for a month and we’re at or past peak bloom. We’ve taken care of plant bugs and stink bugs, mainly greens, over the last 2 weeks. Our cotton is clean and growing well.

“We may be at our last Pix application and are running 3 and 4 nodes above white flower. Hopefully, another 4 inches of gentle rain will fall through August, which would top-up the yields over the next 30 days. It’s worth noting that we’ve had 45 inches of rain so far this year. We’ve hit our monthly average or gone above it every month since last September. So, we don’t want August to break that trend.

“We suspect that a handful of plants may be infected with the blue virus disease, although it’s nothing to be worried about – maybe a single plant per 1,000 acres of cotton.

“In places, prickly sida is scattered around, but we aren’t finding escaped Palmer amaranth. The Xtend program has performed well, and we’ve followed it with Liberty/glufosinate. Xtend is performing much like Roundup did in 2000. The question is: ‘When is the system going to break?’”

Richard Griffing, Griffing Consulting, LLC, Monterey, Louisiana:

“The youngest cotton is at early bloom. The oldest is 3 nodes above white flower, and we treated it 2 or 3 weeks ago for bollworms. Moth trap numbers are dropping and eggs are running 10% to 15%.

“Plant bug pressure has trended lighter for the last 10 days, although we’re still treating. Spider mite populations are light and aphids are gone.

“It would be great if the weather would cooperate. Target spot and bacterial blight are picking up in several varieties.

“We’re still very wet after Hurricane Barry dropped up to 9 inches of rain along the Mississippi River fields. West of that in Catahoula Parish, 4 to 5 inches fell. It’s stayed wet ever since then and over an inch of rain fell yesterday.

“The crop looks promising if we can just get some dry weather. For the first time in 30 years, I’m seeing cotton throw off small squares for no apparent reason and this isn’t due to plant bugs. Usually, cotton will abort small bolls behind a big rain, but this is different.

“We’ll be in full swing with corn harvest in 10 to 15 days. I don’t think it’s a bumper crop but our corn should be good. Roundup went out on the milo, and it will be ready for harvest in a week.

“It will take 7 to 10 days to dry out, and growers in central Louisiana south will be out of the field for a significant time. Farther north, the cotton is inconsistent. The fruit load is ‘okay,’ according to several people. We won’t break any records this year but should have a decent crop in the Delta area.

“The bollworm flight varies from heavy to nonexistent, and much of that difference depends on proximity to corn. The worms are hard to scout this year. It seems eggs are being laid deep in the canopy.

“Redbanded stink bug (RBSB) populations have run high in south Louisiana soybeans for several weeks, with an influx this week in central Louisiana. In the northeast, numbers remain low, but they really tend to show up in August as soybeans reach R-5.

“Corn harvest has started at high moisture – from 20% to 28%. Guys are jumping in the field early because they’ve been burned in the past by August hurricanes.”

Angus Catchot, Mississippi Extension Entomologist:

“Bollworms are the main focus in cotton this week. Typically, you see a big flight and know it’s time to treat. That isn’t the case this season.

“It’s aggravating because we’re not dealing with distinct moth flights but with a continuous trickle of eggs, and the number of worms and eggs in a field doesn’t justify a spray. However, 4 or 5 days later, you might find worms at threshold. This is particularly frustrating because once the worms are in the bloom tags, it’s challenging to get them out.

“Unfortunately, we’ll sustain a little damage by the time this plays out. Generally, it’s not at economic levels, but no one wants to see it.

“This variability in how bollworms are developing has something to do with all the late-planted soybeans this year, I suspect. About 70% of our soybeans, in fact, were planted after May 15. Normally, our peak bloom in cotton doesn’t line up with bloom on a wide amount of soybean acres. But that’s the case this year, and we believe that soybeans are drawing many moths that otherwise would have headed into cotton.”