Louisiana Cotton Crop Appears Pretty Good Right Now - AgFax Cotton

By AgFax Media LLC, AgFax.com

Steve Schutz, Ind. Consultant, Coushatta, Louisiana:

"It's been raining and we got another two inches last night. Most of the cotton I work is south of Shreveport, and I found my first cotton bloom Sunday (June 23). I actually thought we were a couple of weeks off from seeing that.

"Our cotton is still behind, though, like everyone else is reporting. We've had a few clear days and the crop took off and it now looks very good. We've still got late cotton that's only at the three-leaf stage, but other fields are moving toward layby.

"Bug-wise, a mix of fleahoppers and plant bugs developed early on. I got worried because normally we get fleahoppers to start with. I was checking on Sunday (June 23) to get ahead of the rain, and the numbers were still at sub-threshold levels, so we don't need to treat. I saw a couple of bollworm moths but nothing to worry about yet.

"Our corn has turned out okay. At the beginning of the season, I thought it would be a disaster but we kept getting timely rains and enough sunshine. It won't be a bumper crop but it'll be solid. A month ago, I'd have said 'Corn isn't working. Let's plant some beans.' Now, our corn has turned the corner.

"The only real issue in corn – and this is nothing new -- has been feral hogs. Those hogs have overrun this part of the state, and several producers are quitting corn because of the hogs. When you bring up hogs with folks who haven't experienced this problem, they think we're crying wolf. But hogs are easily knocking yields by 20 to 80 bushels per acre. They mow down the field – taking one bite out of an ear and then keep moving. It actually looks more like someone ran through the field with a Bush Hog."

 Ashley Peters, Peters Crop Consulting, Crowville, Louisiana:

"Our cotton crop is all over the board in terms of maturity, and it's starting to need a plant bug clean-up in a few spots. When I say it's all over the board, we have cotton blooming now but also have plants that were watered up just two weeks ago. Thrips haven't been on every acre but we've definitely sprayed bigger cotton, and later in the season, than we ever have.

"A lot of our corn is done tasseling and is in brown silk now. The corn is like the cotton: maturity is not all uniform.

"Weed control has been okay, so far. Due to the weather, we ran into delays with herbicide applications. It rained about three-quarters of an inch today on top of the same amount yesterday (June 24). It rained last week, too, so we're in pretty good shape with moisture."