Mid-South Cotton

By Laykyn Rainbolt, Contributing Editor

Katie Humphreys, Editor

Ernst Undesser, Editor

Ag Fax

OVERVIEW 

After mid-June floods, growers were forced to access fields and make the tough decision to replant this late in the season or not. Other areas are looking to irrigate as temperatures continue to rise.

Plant bugs continue to increase in numbers as more cotton enters that window. Some are concerned this will be a heavy year for plant bug populations. Most areas are seeing treatments go out for up to the third time.

Fall armyworms are gaining attention as they move into soybeans. Be mindful when treating that corn-strain armyworms could be mixed in with grass-strain armyworms.

Matt Foster, Louisiana Extension Cotton, Corn, and Grain Sorghum Specialist: 

“With the adverse weather conditions, it’s been a struggle this year for cotton in Louisiana. Most of the cotton was planted in late May to early June, but some growers finished planting cotton last week (week of June 14). It is late this year. We typically see cotton blooming around the fourth of July, but we’ll only see a little bloom by that time this year. As of June 21, it was reported that approximately 40% of the cotton in the state was squaring. We have a long way to go. With cotton growth ranging from just emerging to squaring, it’s evident we had scattered planting windows this year.

“In addition to challenges during planting, weed management and fertilizer applications have not been easy because of the wet weather. We are seeing some injury from oil-based herbicides and/or surfactants due to high humidity and high moisture environments. Having a crop this late is important to be aware of. We don’t need to slow down the cotton more than the weather already has.

“Despite all the challenges, the cotton crop I’ve seen across the state looks good. It’s just late. Cotton acres were already predicted to be down, but because of the wet weather and adverse planting conditions, a lot of growers planted soybeans rather than cotton. Some cotton gins won’t even be open this year. I’ve talked to several growers who said this is the first time in 30 to 40 years they haven’t planted cotton. You can still yield a good crop from June planted cotton, but since the crop is growing quicker during hotter weather conditions, management practices must be timelier.

“Thrips have been a concern in certain areas of the state, as usual. It hasn’t been anything out of the ordinary compared to past years, but populations have been high enough in some areas to justify foliar insecticide applications.

“Aphids and fleahoppers have not reached treatment levels in most areas of the state; however, some insecticide applications have gone out for plant bugs in pre-bloom cotton (week of June 21). As more of the crop starts to square, more focus will be put toward square retention and growth regulation. PGR applications need to be on time as the cotton is accumulating a lot of heat units and growing quickly.

“We have a lot of corn this year, and it looks really good for the most part. It ranges from starting to tassel to starting to dent. A few people did have to start irrigating corn in the past few weeks (from June 23), but we’ve received a few timely rains recently. Prices are good, and people are optimistic about the corn crop.”