AgFax Cotton - Louisiana
By AgFax Media LLC, AgFax.com
OVERVIEW
Open bolls are turning up on a scattered basis in the south Delta and insect control is being terminated in places.
The crop is running ahead of schedule in many areas, our contacts continue to report.
Bollworms are still in the picture but some cotton is past the point that they matter much. Where cotton is far enough along, less expensive insecticides are being used to buy a little more time at the end. If any diamides are still going out, it's on later fields that haven't cut out.
Plant bugs are being sprayed on more of a localized basis now.
Spider mites remain a nagging issue in parts of the upper Delta.
Soybean harvest started this week in Louisiana on a limited basis and a bit more corn harvest has cranked up, mainly where growers have dryers.
LOUISIANA CROP REPORTS
Richard Griffing, Griffing Consulting, LLC, Monterey, Louisiana:
"Cotton is about to cut out. Insect-wise, everything is under pretty good control. We're still having to stay on top of plant bugs but it's nothing out of hand.
"Everything except the triple-gene cotton was sprayed with a diamide and that's held really well. Now, we're coming in with Diamond and Bidrin to finish out the crop.
"It will be 3 weeks before defoliation starts in any of our fields. Cotton is blooming out the top and maturing rapidly. I found a boll 2 days ago (from 7/31) that had started opening. We've got a front moving through, but after that we'll get into drier weather and bolls should start popping fast.
"Even after a tremendous amount of shed, the crop really looks good. As long as we don't have a repeat of last August, we'll be in good shape. In 2017, it rained 25 out of 31 days. In places where it looked like 1,400 to 1,500 lbs/acre averages, the yields dropped to 700 to 1,250, depending on the area.
"A few people have pecked around to try to harvest some corn, but our main corn harvest will start in earnest in 5 or 10 days.
"One client has already cut about 400 acres of soybeans that were planted on March 20 on some really dry fields with rolling ridges. They burned up yet still cut in the upper 40s (bu/acre). But most of my beans are at R6 and insects are slowly picking up.
"We have brown and green stink bugs in beans, with a few redbanded. I've border-sprayed a few fields and treated some whole fields. We're finding clusters of freshly hatched browns. I don't think stink bugs will be bad this year but we'll end up having to treat some more acres. We had a pretty good run of corn earworms in beans about 2 weeks ago and treated those. So far, so good."