Crop Scan AgReport: Planters Push to Catch Up Across the Cotton Belt
May 18, 2021 
Cotton Grower® magazine’s Crop Scan AgReport for mid-May shows planters now rolling across the Cotton Belt, and USDA backs that up with their latest Crop Progress report showing 38% of U.S. cotton now in the ground. Rain has been a benefit in the High Plains and a bit of a hassle in other parts of Texas. Drier weather is allowing Mid-South and Southeast growers to start catching up on planting – all with an eye on early season insects and weeds.
Kerry Siders is Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Agent-IPM for Hockley, Cochran and Lamb Counties, providing education and applied research for weeds, insects, diseases, nematodes, growth regulators and harvest aids in cotton. He is a member of the High Plains Association of Crop Consultants.
The Texas High Plains drought is not over by a long shot, but we have received some rain showers over the last couple weeks. We pray for the rain which is coming. Cotton planting has been delayed until this third week in May. Not ideal for earliness, but conditions have just not been good.
In terms of pests, we are not finding any thrips moving around in or near wheat fields. This would be the primary source of our thrips infestations. Reports from other parts of Texas, particularly the Brazos Valley, indicate some heavy infestations. We are seeing scattered populations of various aphids’ species and accompanying beneficial insects. To date, no cotton aphids have been noted.
Also, various plant bug species have been noted in alternate hosts. These pest situations are not a concern of possible things to come, but we need to be aware and stay abreast of how things develop over the next few weeks as the cotton plant develops and becomes more vulnerable.
We must also be vigilant to soil pests. Obviously, this is a field-by-field situation, so if a field has history of nematodes, hopefully you have taken measures to limit damage. The one soil insect which has developed into a serious pest over the last few years is the wireworm. Stand development is very difficult when wireworms are present and have not been treated at-plant.
So, be sure to walk your cotton fields as soon as they emerge and stay with it. I pray we all have a good crop year, but just know a good crop year is generally good for pests also.
Mark Nemec is a Texas independent agricultural consultant, now in his 27th year of checking cotton, wheat, grain sorghum and corn in the Blacklands and Brazos River Bottom area of Central Texas.
When it rains, it pours. We have been in a long, extended cool and wet spell in Central Texas. Some areas have seen 1-2 inches of rain in the last two weeks with higher totals in spots. It did dry out in a few places and there was a lot of herbicide applied to those fields. I’m glad we got what got while we could, as the forecast for this coming week (May 16-22) is for 3-6 inches of more rain.
The cooler temps have really slowed down the growth on our poor waterlogged plants. To add insult to injury, thrips numbers are increasing as our wheat crop dries down.
There are still a couple of spots that should be replanted if we can get it to dry up in time. This has been one of the slowest and hardest starts to a season we’ve had in quite a while. With the tools we have nowadays, we can get things going and finish strong. Remember – it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon.
Tucker Miller is a Mississippi-based independent private consultant for cotton, soybeans, corn, peanuts, rice and vegetables. He is a member and past president of the Mississippi Agricultural Consultants Association.
In my area, 20% of the cotton acres were planted the last few days in April. This cotton came up and has survived to this point. We still have a stand, but we went a week with zero DD 60s. We also went from 35,000 plants per acre down to 25,000. I will be watching this cotton for weed escapes and thrips pressure next week.
Our next planting was May 6, 7 and 8. This cotton received 1-2 inches of rain, then temperatures in the low 50s for several days. We are running rotary hoes now and will be evaluating stands this next week. I am sure that some will need to be replanted.
Planting resumed as of May 13 and we have received good temperatures. This cotton will catch the early planted crop and will probably be better.
Seed treatments are still holding on the early cotton, but due to the stress and lack of growth, they may play out this next week. Herbicide applications are still holding as well, but where we have disturbed the soil with the rotary hoes will lessen our control. In the next 2-3 weeks we will concentrate on weed control and early season insects.
If we can get 4-5 days of good running, we can finish planting for the first time. Hopefully we won’t have to replant too much.
Wes Briggs is an independent consultant providing recommendations on weed, disease, insect and fertility management, plus variable rate soil sampling, for growers in Georgia, Alabama and Florida for more than 30 years. He and his scouting team cover about 10 counties in the tristate area, checking cotton, corn, peanuts, soybeans and some small grains.
As of May 18, cotton is less than 50% planted. Cotton stands are good, 5 days to complete stand, and no replanting which is great considering some heavy rain and wind events. Weather this week is clear and cotton planting is in full swing. However, emerged cotton is sluggish and growing slowly due to cooler temperatures and cloudy, wet days. The bulk of our cotton acres will be planted over the next 2 weeks.
Thrip numbers are high, and we are experiencing very heavy thrip pressure on seedling cotton regardless of seed treatments or in-furrow insecticides. With good moisture and timely rain events, pre-plant/pre-emerge herbicides are performing excellent – very few, if any, escaped pigweed to date. Our oldest cotton at the 2-3 leaf stage (21-24 days old) is receiving its first post over-the-top sprays for weeds and thrips this week.
Chad Harrell owns and operates Harrell Agronomic Services in Northeastern North Carolina. He is a member of the North Carolina Agricultural Consultants Association and serves on the board of the North Carolina Cotton Producers Association.
We are about two weeks ahead of where we were this time last year, with about 75% of our cotton acres planted. Some growers that chose to plant early and plant through the cool spell last week have finished planting. Many stopped planting last week while we had night temperatures in the 40s for a few days. Planting has picked back up this week and many will finish by the end of the week.
Moisture is our biggest concern now. We are running out fast and there is no rain in sight. We will need to catch a rain to get this last planted cotton out of the ground.
Thrips are starting to show up in the earlier planted cotton that is now at the first true leaf stage. We began spraying these acres with acephate this week.
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