AgFax Cotton - Louisiana
By AgFax Media LLC, AgFax.com
OVERVIEW
Cotton planting has all but wrapped up in parts of the region, with a big share of it completed in the second half of May. Some acres are left to plant and an unknown number slipped into prevented planting. Growers also are replanting and spot planting in some locations.
The weather has turned drier and hotter through a big part of our coverage area. A line of thunderstorms was moving through western Arkansas and northwest Louisiana as we closed this issue Wednesday night.
Thrips are picking up in places as non-crop hosts dry down. Some foliar applications are going out.
Thrips pressure in the Midsouth sounds relatively light compared to what our contacts in the Southeast report. In parts of south Alabama and North Carolina growers are making a second spray or are at least considering it. Ron Smith, veteran Auburn University Extension Entomologist, said that pressure in south Alabama is probably the heaviest he's seen in 10 years. The weather in the Southeast has been hotter and drier than in the Midsouth, so plenty of cotton has been growing slowly, giving thrips ample time to pile on.
LOUISIANA CROP REPORTS
Sebe Brown, Louisiana Extension Field Crops Entomologist:
"Thrips are quiet and our seed treatments appear to be holding really well. I've had very few calls about thrips and haven't heard of anyone going with a rescue foliar spray for them.
"With all the wet and cold weather, we were late getting a lot of cotton planted, but heat units are very good now and cotton is roaring out of the ground. Some of our older cotton is probably just out of the thrips window and some of the earliest may be starting to square.
"But the vast majority of our cotton was planted late and part of the crop is still in the bag. They're expecting to open the Morganza spillway next week, so that could affect some acreage. Also, seep water along levees in our river parishes has kept growers from planting that acreage, and a lot of it was slated for cotton.
"In soybeans, a few applications have gone out for redbanded stink bugs. That's in the southern part of the state where some soybeans already are at R4, which is pod formation, and are moving toward R5 when seeds form. Stink bugs tend to move into beans at R5, and our threshold for redbanded is 4 per 25 sweeps.
Steve Schutz, Ind. Consultant, Coushatta, Louisiana:
"Some cotton is still being planted but we're on the downhill side of that, plus we have a little replanting to do. Usually, cotton is the slowest crop to emerge, but anything planted lately has shot up and the stands look good.
"What we've just planted is emerging and our oldest is moving along nicely and is probably at the fourth leaf stage now (5/27). So far, we haven't had to treat for thrips and a lot of this cotton will outgrow them, as it looks right now. That's probably just as well because it's been too windy to spray. Where we have anything that looks like thrips injury, it's probably from wind damage or sand blasting.
"Weeds aren't a problem in cotton. We have some preemerge herbicides down. All of my Louisiana cotton will be dicamba cotton. The cotton I work in Arkansas will be treated with Liberty.
"Preemerge materials are breaking just a little in places. Mostly, I'm seeing weeds that were common in 'the old days'. Morningglory and grass are coming up, for example. We've had so much rain that we're maybe not getting as much activity from preemerge materials in places. A few pigweeds emerged in wet areas where we couldn't get in to spray.
"In corn, we've had issues with northern corn leaf blight (NCLB) in certain hybrids. We're kind of in a Catch 22 as far as fungicides go for NCLB. Based on what I've read and specialists say, fungicides work better on NCLB when you spray in the vegetative stage. But if you spray at that point, you may have to spray a second time later.
"In soybeans, some MG IVs are at the sixth trifoliate with a few blooms. A few bollworms are present but those little leaves don't provide adequate nourishment, so those small worms can't molt and they'll die. Damage is running less than 2%.
"In our Louisiana beans, nobody has used dicamba yet, but we don't have any pigweed issues, either. Everything but pigweed is coming up, though. We still have quite a few soybean acres that haven't been planted yet and some of those beds are rough."
Ashley Peters, Peters Crop Consulting, Crowville, Louisiana:
"Some of our oldest cotton is probably at 6 to 7 leaves and some is still just being planted. Maybe a little was planted yesterday (5/27) and a little replanting is left to do.
"Overall, we're 90% to 95% finished with cotton planting and folks planted most of their intended acres, I think, although some went to prevented planting.
"Our better growing conditions this year have been from mid-May to now. Soils are warm, most places have decent moisture and sunshine is abundant. Cotton came up growing, so maybe we won't lose that much time.
"Not much is happening with thrips, probably because of these more ideal growing conditions. We'll find them here and there but we haven't had to worry about treating and might get by okay. We'll see how it goes with cotton planted in the last 2 to 3 days.
"In corn, guys have been putting out polypipe and began watering some. The forecast calls for a chance of rain on Thursday but accumulation will be light."