Explore Planning Options for Dryland Cotton Acres

Dryland cotton production in west Texas was close to non-existent in 2020 due to lingering drought and other untimely weather situations. And with 2021 expected to be a La Niña year, the outlook for more moisture and better growing conditions are not promising. But that doesn’t mean that growers will walk away from those acres.

“A lot of times, we treat dryland as a stepchild,” says Kerry Siders, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Agent-IPM for Hockley, Cochran and Lamb Counties. “A year like 2020 where we were totally relying on our irrigated acres really hits us hard. We have to do everything we can to produce a dryland crop and take advantage of it as best we can. We need to be more proactive sometimes but without breaking the bank and jeopardizing our economic situation.”

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Siders notes that more and more growers are trying to incorporate cover crops into their off season programs. But it’s a tough call without enough local moisture on hand to get the crop out of the ground.

“Cover crops work really nice when we have moisture to protect the crop,” he says. “But one of my concerns with cover crops is understanding when it’s served its purpose in the growing season and when to destroy it.”

Therein lies the challenge for dryland growers, especially with standing wheat in the field in June and July prior to planting. Although it may be terminated and still in the dying process, the plants are still using and losing moisture that a new cotton crop desperately needs.

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“We still have an intact root system that is literally wicking moisture out of the soil,” explains Siders. “We have to learn how to sever that root system from the standing plant to prevent that loss of moisture from occurring, and growers need to be prepared to understand how to mitigate that moisture use or loss during the growing season.

One recommendation – depending on the amount of rainfall between now and the end of April – is to use something like a stalk chopper to destroy the root system.

“I’ve seen it used effectively when it’s moved into the row middles and used to crimp or break the stalk from the root system,” he says. “It still leaves you with good ground cover and provides protection. But it’s no longer wicking moisture out.”

In terms of fertility, Siders says that any fertilizer that may have been put out – possibly as far back as 2019 – may still be in the field. The key questions – is it still where growers need it to be and can growers afford to add more to it?

“Most of our dryland producers are somewhat reactive,” he says. “Some gamble to the point where they’re a little more proactive and at least put starter fertilizer out. And I don’t have a problem with that. If you can find a good price, you should be able to put out a good starter kit for the top six inches that the cotton plant will benefit from in the short term. A lot of times when we do react with fertilizer, we’re too slow to react. We wait for that rain then go out and sling some fertilizer, and it may already be too late.”

Siders recommends soil sampling to find out what and how much is in the top foot of soil. If you can pick up 40 units, that’s more than sufficient for a bale. But if any nutrients are below 20 inches, it’ll be a while before a cotton plant gets to it.

“Pick a number you can afford,” he suggests. “Maybe somewhere between 10 and 30 units. If the top six inches of soil show no nitrogen, I would maybe want to sling some out this winter, particularly if I’m also thinking about weed control. Growers often react to weed control just like they do fertilizer. We might get rain and flush of weeds, and it’s time to react. That’s not always the most cost effective way to do that.”

Siders says dryland growers have to keep all of these things – fertility, weed control and cover crops (if used) – in mind and have a proactive plan in place for them. There is, however, one thing that growers are welcome to react to – pest management.

“From an insect and disease perspective on dryland, I’m not going to spend a bunch of money on seed treatments for thrips, and I’m not going to worry about nematodes,” he admits. “But I will for weeds, fertility, tillage and cover crops. Growers need to have Plan A, B and C ready as things change.

“Let’s say the weather pattern breaks in February or we get a big snow,” he adds. “Those things are unpredictable and are not necessarily dependent on La Niña or El Niño. Growers could be sitting on several inches of rainfall equivalent, and that will get them up and started. And too, we can sometimes get a really wet snow up to the first of April. If so, that’s planting moisture, too.”

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