AgFax Cotton - Louisiana
AgFax Media LLC, AgFax.com
OVERVIEW
Plant bug numbers are picking up on a wider basis and more applications are being made. No huge numbers are being reported. Some fields are on their second spray. Immatures are turning up in cotton now.
Bollworms remain mostly in the background. The same pretty much applies to aphids and spider mites.
More Pix applications are being made, especially on some of the newer and more aggressive varieties.
LOUISIANA CROP REPORTS
Sebe Brown, Northeast Louisiana Region Extension Entomologist:
"Plant bug numbers are really starting to pick up in a lot of our cotton. In some of our later cotton, we're just seeing blooms this week and more and more blooms are opening every day. We're in that transitional period – corn is drying down, cotton is blooming and plant bugs are moving into that cotton.
"We're also finding a lot of immature plant bugs in cotton now (6/26). A good deal of Diamond is going out to get ahead of plant bugs. On the whole, cotton is about the only crop that's potentially profitable right now, and growers and consultants are very mindful of that.
"Bollworm issues haven't materialized yet but I feel like they're coming. You can find all stages of worms in corn. Last year, we had big numbers in July all at the same time. This year, though, the ages of corn are spread out. So, we may see a lighter flight but with a longer duration.
"I've received some calls about aphids, which is pretty typical. It's very hot and dry, so they should start showing up more. Mites are still pretty quiet. Even though these would seem to be ideal conditions for mites, I'm still thinking that they were suppressed by all the Liberty herbicide that went out. Liberty has some activity on mites.
"Soybeans are still very quiet. I'm not expecting bollworm issues like those reported in Arkansas. Redbanded stink bugs (RBSB) are present but in light numbers, even in south Louisiana. There's some chance that we will hit a shortage of bifenthrin, which is one of the key materials in our product rotation for RBSB. If we run short on bifenthrin, that could put us in a bind if RBSB build in late summer."
Dan Fromme, Louisiana Extension Cotton and Corn Specialist:
"Cotton is blooming just about everywhere. We still haven't gotten that general rain this crop needs. A couple of consultants said today (6/26) that they're seeing a good square set but that dryland fields are running out of time and can't hold on much longer.
"In places, fields started blooming at 6 or 7 NAWF instead of the 8 to 10 we like to see. That indicates how long it's been dry.
"Corn is mostly at the dough to dent stage and will be at black layer sometime in mid-July, so we could see harvest start around August 1. The condition of this corn crop varies widely. Some people are quite happy and others are kind of despondent. A lot of dryland fields have blank tips. In the 5 years I've been here, this is the most variability in yield potential that I've seen."
Ashley Peters, Peters Crop Consulting, Crowville, Louisiana:
"Some of my fields started blooming last week, and that is probably our oldest cotton. On the other hand, some was planted really late and only has a couple of leaves. Most of the crop, though, is at or past pinhead square.
"We're applying a lot of Pix. Plant bug treatments have been scattered, nothing across the board. These tend to be fields surrounded by corn and are mostly small patches. Where we have broad areas of cotton, plant bugs are lighter. Nothing has been treated twice and a portion of this crop hasn't been treated for plant bugs at all.
"I saw my first corn at dent and we should find more at dent over the next week or two. Hopefully, we're on the downhill side with corn and are mainly just keeping water going to it.
"In soybeans, we're doing scattered fungicide applications. Bugs have been quite overall. In the last 10 days, we've received scattered rain, which has helped where it fell. One farmer is laying pipe now in cotton and will probably start watering late in the week. He's not in a bind but wants to keep up with the crop's demand."
Steve Schutz, Ind. Consultant, Coushatta, Louisiana:
"Cotton is moving along and blooming well with a few small bolls setting. No real problems with insects. We've sprayed plant bugs and have probably treated some acres twice now. No overwhelming numbers are turning up.
"A few aphids are building. We only have spider mites in one area and the cheap materials are holding them. Even our dryland cotton is doing okay, and cotton has fared better in this dry weather and anything else.
"We continue missing rain. The last widespread system was in April, I think. Even when we had a 100% chance of rain from that last tropical system, it maybe rained a tenth of an inch. The forecast said it would rain 1 to 5 inches over a 5-day period. That was a large disappointment.
"Irrigation has started in cotton north of Shreveport. Cotton is averaging 10 to 12 nodes through a lot of the acres I check but is maybe a little further along in places. We are putting out a lot of Pix, even on dryland cotton. The consensus is that we may set back cotton some with higher rates, but that's probably still better than the problems that could develop if we're not on top of growth.
"Target spot and all the other issues associated with rank growth figure into the decisions, so we're being aggressive. Even where we worried last year about putting out too much Pix, cotton still got rank toward the end of the season.
"Some of our beans are at R4 or R5. Half of the non-irrigated beans are doing really well. I guess they have a deep tap root. But the other half are clearly stressed. They are blooming and are growing, but it's hard to tell how much longer they can hold out. Where anyone has received rain, it's been a half-inch to maybe an inch, but that's beginning to play out.
"Corn isn't faring well. Dryland ranges from bad to okay. A little northern corn leaf blight turned up late. In corn, our biggest problem continues to be of the 4-legged kind – deer and hogs. Some people reduced corn acres this year because of hogs and some won't plant any corn next year for the same reason."