Cotton – Southwest – High Temps Push Crop to Cutout – AgFax

OVERVIEW

Cutout and Defoliation. Cotton is moving along with a big push from high temperatures and dry weather.

Harvest. Chris Locke counted 40 pickers moving down the road in the Coastal Bend this week.

Dicamba ban.  A request for a rehearing was denied. The 3 companies – Corteva AgriScience, BASF, Bayer – have one more legal option. Read more below in AgFax News Links.

CROP REPORTS

Murilo Maeda, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Cotton Specialist, Lubbock:

“Cotton is moving right along with this warm weather and scattered showers. Today (8/17), irrigated fields planted in late May are at about 2 to 4 NAWF. Since last week, many irrigated and dryland fields are blooming out the top, which indicates how dry the region remains.

“Fields in peak bloom are also at peak water use – using about 0.3” per day, or about 2” a week. Cooler weather is forecast from now on, but we need to be watching water needs for later planted fields.

“This is an important time. Folks need to keep an eye out for insects to help protect positions on the plant.”

Alan Seitz, Nutrien Ag Solutions, Wilcox, Arizona:

“Even though it’s typically cooler in eastern Arizona, the weather has been hot for us. Temperatures have hit the upper 90s with many days over 100 degrees. Many growers pump more abundant irrigation water to corn instead of cotton. In those cases, cotton is at cutout and blooming out the top. Rain has been spotty at best.

“We’ve treated a few fields for rust. Bindweed, pigweed escapes, morning glory and spurred anoda still need treatments. We’re fighting lygus in fields around alfalfa, but they are no longer a problem for mature bolls. Thankfully, stink bugs have remained low.

“Lack of moisture is holding back yields for some growers. However, most fields appear average and slightly above.”

Randy Boman, Windstar Cotton Agronomics Manager, Edmonson, Texas:

“I’m southwest of Plainview this morning (8/18). Most fields are looking good, although everyone could use a drink. Plants are running 5 NAWF.

“There are opportunities to make good yields. A good sign is NAWF has remained horizontal for 2 to 3 weeks. If you graph NAWF by the week, they typically start at, say, 7 to 10, and then gradually decrease in time due to water deficiency. But we’ve stayed above 5 to 6 NAWF, which means fields have had sufficient rain or irrigation to keep plants growing.

“Fruit retention is good and bolls are big. Since it is August 18, we’re reaching the point where blooms formed later are less likely to make a fluffy boll. The good news is we’re close to blooming out the top, which means we’re right on schedule. A good rain would help finish it out even more.”

Gary Beverage, Nutrien Ag Solutions, Artesia, New Mexico/Southwest Texas:

“This heat has been pushing much of our cotton to cutout for the past month. We’re going to quit fighting and let it finish. Yields should be promising, despite the dry, hot weather. The boll load looks great with a good chance yields will average more than 3 bales.

“Insects remained light most of the summer. We didn’t have stink bug issues. Growers managed weeds well all season. There were a few battles with Russian thistle. But, overall, guys made timely herbicide applications and kept weeds in check. Southwestern cotton rust is apparent in a few fields, but there’s nothing that is a big threat.

“Other crops are doing well. Alfalfa is producing good tonnage, and chili peppers have loaded up.”

Tyler Mays, Texas A&M AgriLife IPM Agent, Hill County:

“We intended to apply harvest aids today (8/17), but up to 1.5” of rain fell last night holding most growers back.

“I know 2 or 3 people that got fields sprayed late last week. We’re still a week or so out from widespread defoliation. Cotton looks good. It’s an average to slightly above-average crop, depending on the planting date.

“We saw a few aphids and whiteflies last week. None were at threshold, but guys still need to keep an eye on them to avoid sticky cotton issues.

“Corn harvest is finishing up. Yields are average to just above average. There are no yield reports on milo, but it looks like a decent crop. Guys need to watch for late sugarcane aphid infestations to avoid harvest issues.”

Tom Studnicka, Studnicka Consulting, Belle Plaine, Kansas:

“We have a chance for an excellent crop. Early cotton is 2 to 4 NAWF and on track to cutout on time. Fruit loads look fantastic. However, the later stuff is just now starting to bloom. It has a good square load, but growers will need a perfect fall to harvest a good crop.

“Weeds are mostly under control with good management. Insects are light, with a few stink bug issues. There are also a few bollworms, but nothing has been treated in susceptible Bollgard 2 fields.

“Corn is waiting to dry down for harvest. It’s only a fair to average crop. Beans still have strong potential. We’re finishing up field sprays for podworms. Several areas could still use a little rain to ease stress on beans and a few cotton fields.”

Chris Locke, CSL Consulting Inc., Sudan, Texas/Eastern New Mexico:

“I’m on the King Ranch near Corpus today (8/18). I’m helping with seed production analysis, and there’s a world of difference in cotton down here and fields in our part of the South Plains. This Coastal Bend crop is pushing 4 bales per acre. I counted 40 pickers that drove by this morning.

“But in my area back home, nearly all cotton is at hard cutout, and most irrigated yields will be under 2 bales. It was too dry all growing season. I didn’t hear of many problems with wells pumping off. Many guys just quit because they had no rain to back up irrigation.

“There are no big insect problems in cotton, but spider mite pressure has been heavy in corn. We treated early with Comite and late with Zeal miticide. Some of the later corn looks good, but the early corn will see lower yields.”