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Kyle Aljoe, Crop Quest Consulting, Dimmitt, Texas:
“Cotton has loaded up pretty good considering the water we’ve had in the southwestern Panhandle area. Fields not sharing irrigation water look good and are at mid to late-bloom.
“We have little insect pressure, but will continue to scout fields to catch any surprises. There are a few scattered weeds, but overall control has been successful.
“We’re managing our irrigation carefully. There have been a few spotty showers, maybe 2” to 2.5” in recent weeks. But we were dry before that. I have pulled water off some cotton for forage sorghum. A few growers have taken water from corn and applied it to cotton.
“Just this morning (8/3,) I found a trace of verticillium wilt in fields that normally have the disease. We’ll monitor that closely.
“The corn crop is good to bad. Many fields are being chopped or swathed for silage. It is high in nitrates, so dairies or feed yards are often forced to blend it before feeding.”
Randy Norton, University of Arizona Extension Cotton Specialist, Safford:
“The excessive heat has affected us in the past few weeks. In central and southeast Arizona, we’re in – or on – the backside of peak bloom. We lost fruit due to the high temperatures.
“Fortunately, insect pressure remains low. Other than a few lygus sprays at below threshold numbers, bugs are quiet. There are no reports of disease other than a small amount of root rot.
“The Yuma area crop is finishing up. We have a field day there on Thursday (8/6). Harvest begins in about a month. It looks good there, as it does in other parts of the state.
“We’re about halfway through the monsoon season, but haven’t seen much rain. We need more rain because we’ve been drier than normal.”
Clyde Crumley, Crumley Agricultural Consulting, El Campo, Texas:
“Cotton is winding down. It’s ready. This week we’ll see defoliation in earnest, and growers are ready to put out harvest aids. It should be a decent year. Yields will approach 2 to three bales. It would have been an excellent crop if we had not caught Hanna’s outer bands.
“The Upper Coast received from 1” to 4”, and we are still getting remnant showers, which we don’t need. A few fields have lint stringing out of open bolls, and a small amount of sprouting.
“The rain slowed corn harvest, which is finishing now. However, corn yields are amazing. Hopefully, that will help offset reduced cotton yields.”
Todd Baughman, Oklahoma State University Institute for Agricultural Biosciences, Research Professor, Ardmore:
“The crop is better as a whole, thanks to timely rain over most of the state last week. It was great for dryland and irrigated. We’ll take rain like that any time, especially in late July.
“Unfortunately, the crop is still at least 2 weeks behind. It just started blooming a couple of weeks ago. There are good patches of cotton, but they are the exception rather than the norm.
“There are no major insect issues that I’m aware of, but we’ll be watching for weed flushes. After the 9th Circuit Court ruling, many growers got dicamba applied early. However, since the crop is young, there is no closed canopy. Weeds will likely require more attention later this month.”
Josh McGinty, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Agronomist, Corpus Christi:
“The Corpus area missed damage from Hurricane Hanna. We hate that the Valley took the brunt of it. They’ve had rough luck the past few years.
“Our area had a little over 4” of heavy rain. But only a small amount of cotton was blown out. There have been pop up showers this past week, which have slowed the crop’s progression. We could see sprouting, but not sure how bad it will be.
“Overall, our crop looks good. A few growers defoliated before the storm. That cotton is getting a second shot as we speak (8/4). With the high moisture, fields are seeing new growth in the terminal. We need to take care of regrowth in the top.
“A few folks got fields picked before the storm. Modules are safe from any flooding.
“Yields will likely be above average. Most of my plots will easily yield 3 bales and a few will push higher. Quality will be off a little, after rain and sprouting, but not nearly as bad as it could have been.
“We’re a little concerned about excessive soil moisture that could hamper boll weevil treatments after harvest. It could be a pain to kill these cotton stalks before regrowth starts.”
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This weekly report is distributed during the main cotton growing season. It is available to United States residents engaged in cotton farming, field scouting and other qualifying ag professions. Mailing address: 142 Westlake Drive, Brandon, MS 39047. Office: 601-992-9488.
