Crop Scan AgReport (May 4): Planting Pace Picks Up

Cotton Grower® magazine’s CROP SCAN AgReport for early May shows planters are beginning to roll in most parts of the Cotton Belt as temperatures rise, but wet weather is putting a damper on planting progress in the upper Mid-South. Cotton is up in south and central Texas, while west Texas growers still need more moisture than some recent showers have provided.

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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.

As of May 4, we are finally experiencing some favorable cotton planting conditions in Northeastern North Carolina. Soil temps are good at 65 degrees, although moisture is starting to become a concern in some areas. I would expect that we have about 20% of our acres in the ground with more going in this week. Some growers are holding off and planting peanuts first, as historically our better cotton is planted in mid-May. We are expecting a slight cool down at the end of the week which may slow down planting for a couple days.

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Our biggest concern now is soil moisture. We did receive some rain this past week, but accumulation was spotty. Looking forward at the forecast, I expect that many of our acres will be planted next week and the third week of May.

As for variety selection, we are shifting more toward 3-gene varieties each year. In this part of the state, we often have a heavy moth flight with much resistance in 2-gene varieties. The 3-gene varieties provide more protection and eliminate one or two bollworm applications. Although, some growers are still planting a good bit of 2-gene DP 1646, as it has performed well in the past.

Weed control has been consistent. We will rely on the same practices that have worked for us in the past. Try to start clean behind the planter and use preemergence herbicides with different MOAs at planting. These usually consist of a two-or three-way mixture of Reflex, Warrant or Diuron depending on soil type and the weed population that is our most concern.

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 4, we are less than 10% planted cotton in south Georgia, south Alabama and the Florida panhandle. Dryland cotton planted on April 27 was up to complete stand in 5 days.

We had rain anywhere from 2 inches to 10 inches on April 24, delaying cotton planting about a week depending on location. Most of this rain occurred so fast that we saw a lot run-off, so things dried out faster than normal. Where we only got 2 inches of rain, moisture is very marginal and drying out fast. Where we received more, we will be planting around wet bottoms.

Cotton planting is well under way now, but we still have a few growers who have not made it to the field. Some bigger farms are still fertilizing and laying by corn. We are seeing shortages with several herbicides like Roundup and Strongarm (used in peanuts), and shortages with fertilizer holding up planting in spots.

Cotton acres appear to be down 8% to 10% in my area, so if we continue to have normal weather for May, we should get cotton planted on time. We could use 1 inch of rain now as things are drying out fast.

We would like to be finished with cotton planting by June 10, but we have planted up to June 20 if needed. Mother’s Day weekend has traditionally been a period of a week to 10 days of high winds. Since we are less than 10% planted as of May 4, we will escape some sand injury on our conventional row bedded cotton. On our strip-till, we look great from the standpoint of sand injury, and burndown weed control has worked nicely up to this point.

We are seeing a shift to more Bollgard III. About 50% of our cotton is dicamba tolerant B3XF, 40% B2XF and 10% Enlist. Going forward, we will be addressing weed control, mainly focused on pigweed escapes in conventional and strip till.

Starting clean and staying clean is priority one. EPA declined Georgia’s 24c label for XtendiMax that would have improved grower flexibility for applying dicamba. We will have to adhere to the buffer zone requirements for all fields.

High cotton yields have been a challenge the last four years for us in the Southeast. Hurricane Irma in 2017, Michael in 2018, 2019 was below average mainly due to dry conditions and silverleaf whitefly, and Hurricane Sally in 2020 resulted in the fifth wettest September ever. Growers need 2021 to be a good year. Cotton prices have increased some, but we still need some upward movement. We generally make good yields based on harvest conditions in September and October. Those two months will determine our outcome.

 

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.

My growers have about 2,000 acres of cotton planted, most of which was planted on Friday and Saturday. We also had some planted mid-week that is pushing today. The cotton has had warm nights and should be okay.

Tyson Raper is the Extension Cotton and Small Grains Specialist for the University of Tennessee.

It’s wet. We went into late April dry, then some cooler temperatures – some below freezing – moved in. Even then, we thought the long-term forecast for the end of April was promising. But over the past 4 or 5 days, we’ve received approximately 5 inches of rain in some areas.

I know some cotton has been planted, but very, very little. Across the board, it looks like we’re going to get a later start than I would have liked. With the rain that fell this morning in the upper Mid-South, I wouldn’t expect us to get into the fields over the next couple of days. It’s a tough start, but we have a lot of planter capacity and can absolutely cover a lot of ground. We just need the weather to cooperate a little bit around here.

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.

Well, we asked for it and we got more rain. The biggest problem with it though is it has been cool and cloudy for most of central Texas.

We had a few warm days early last week, and cotton responded nicely. Growers were finally able to “row it up” driving by the fields. Most fields have a good stand, but some fields have had to be replanted due to big skips.

With the slow wet start we are having, I would expect to see more early season insects due to the seed treatments playing out soon. Of course with rain, comes weeds. There is a big need coming for a round of soil residues as soon as possible. The majority of the cotton fields are in pretty good shape for now, but I am noticing some small weeds sprouting.

It’s been a struggle getting started this year due to the ever changing weather in Central Texas. We’ve gone from very windy and dry to very wet and cool in just a few weeks. We are hoping the warmer dry weather that’s forecasted gets here soon – just not too warm or too dry.

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.

Planters are ready, soil temperatures are good and getting better, and yet we just have not had a good widespread rain event. That has been the pattern – isolated rain on less than 10% of the land area, and the remaining 90% receives less than a tenth of an inch rain. Makes it very difficult to plant right now, at the same time, knowing we lose the “earliness” advantage.

Looking at early season pests, we are not anticipating any wholesale problems. Thrips have seemed to be very light in their current host of wheat. Wheat acres have struggled this winter and spring, which, in turn, has not encouraged high numbers of thrips. Producers must still scout and be prepared to manage thrips. Wireworms are present on more and more acres here on the Texas Southern High Plains. Seed treatments are the best management tool. The same goes for nematodes. A good seed treatment or in-furrow nematicide plus a resistant/tolerant cotton variety is recommended.

Weed pressure has generally been light this winter/spring period as well, as it is reflective of the lack of moisture. Trust me: you know that once we do receive rain or start irrigating, weeds will come. So, be ready to respond if you do not have a preferred preplant, preemergent herbicide in place.

Fortunately, we have the best producers in the world on the job.

Praying for rain!

 

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