It came as no surprise that USDA reduced cotton acres for 2021 in its highly anticipated planted acre report. They now project 11.7 million acres will be planted to cotton. As predicted, this did not meet market expectations causing grain prices to surge at the expense of cotton which lost nearly three cents on the day of the report.
Read MorePlant bugs continue to increase, and bollworm populations are expected to rise soon as more corn hits brown silk. Plant bugs have been at treatment level in many areas for about two weeks and continue to require treatments. Stink bug populations are also rising, and redbanded stink bugs have been spotted in very low numbers.
After a very wet spring, most areas could use a decent rain. The weather goes from one extreme to the other. Rain is in the forecast for this weekend (July 3), which is welcomed as irrigation is going on most crops.
Fall armyworms continue to require applications, but most growers are seeing better control with suggested treatments and close observation of the armyworm’s origin
Read MoreThe U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol welcomes the UK’s leading retailer, Tesco, as a member of the system that brings quantifiable and verifiable goals and measurement to more sustainable cotton production. Tesco joins the Trust Protocol as part of its commitment to sourcing 100% sustainable cotton by 2025.
Tesco’s membership marks a significant step in its ambitious sustainability programme which sets out its plan for climate action, its approach to protecting important ecosystems such as forests and marine environments, and its work on promoting sustainable agricultural practices that protect soil health and biodiversity.
Read MoreIf you want to honor a cotton consultant, nominate him or her for the prestigious 2021 Cotton Consultant of the Year (CCOY) Award. Click here to access the 2021 nomination form. The deadline for nominations is July 31.
Read MoreAfter 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.
Read MoreCotton Incorporated’s producer-focused Web site, Cotton Cultivated, cottoncultivated.cottoninc.com, was recently refreshed. A new look and new features make the site an even better resource for America’s cotton producers.
Since its launch in 2015, Cotton Cultivated has become an indispensable tool for the cotton-growing community, allowing quick and easy access to important information. The site provides a portal that integrates videos, downloadable documents, webcasts, and real-time news feeds that have been “cultivated” to reduce the time spent sorting through pages of irrelevant search results.
Read MoreThe long-accepted standard for growth intervals between 1st position cotton fruit on consecutive nodes, or fruiting branches, is 3 days. The accepted interval between fruiting positions on the same fruiting branch is 6 days.
The basis of these intervals dates back to original research in 1916 which indicated the vertical interval between flowering was about 3 days and the horizontal interval was about 6 days. Thus, 3 UP and 6 OUT are widely, commonly accepted. Other investigations over the years have suggested slightly different intervals both vertical and horizontal.
Read MoreWith Louisiana experiencing warm days and adequate moisture, much of the cotton has grown out of the thrips susceptibility stage (1-4 leaf cotton) and is beginning to put on squares. Square initiation results in an increased presence of a diverse cohort of plant bugs and below is an adult and immature guide to aid in the identification of plant bugs in cotton.
Read MoreChina’s 2020/21 imports are forecast at a 7-year high, driven by the highest projected consumption in 3 years, robust State Reserve (SR) imports, and attractive prices for imported cotton relative to domestic supplies.
Read MoreAverage spot quotations were 39 points lower than the previous week, according to the USDA, Agricultural Marketing Service’s Cotton and Tobacco Program. Quotations for the base quality of cotton (color 41, leaf 4, staple 34, mike 35-36 and 43-49, strength 27.0-28.9, and uniformity 81.0-81.9) in the seven designated markets averaged 81.29 cents per pound for the week ending Thursday, June 17, 2021.
Read MoreAshley Peters, Peters Crop Consulting, Crowville, Louisiana
“We will finish fertilizing the cotton this week. We just finished planting cotton 7 to 10 days ago (from June 16). Everything is planted, the oldest is at match head square and most of it is fertilized. It won’t be long until we start seeing blooms.
“Most of the earlier planted acres have been sprayed for thrips, but not every single acre has required treating. Populations varied farm by farm, but the later planted cotton seemed to miss the biggest thrips pressure.
“A few applications are also going out for plant bugs and some plant growth regulators on the older cotton that has been squaring for a week or two.
“In the cotton, we have done a pretty good job controlling the weeds. That isn’t exactly the case in soybeans or rice, but cotton acres got the typical burndown, the application at planting and have already had a post-herbicide shot.
“My acres are pretty stable compared to last year. Everyone I dealt with who had cotton last year still has some cotton this year, but I’ve talked to other consultants whose cotton acres are way down.
“Rice is a different story. We are still planting rice this week (as of June 16). Like the cotton, we have a wide range on our rice crop. It is anywhere from ready to flood to just trying to come up. Most of my rice is row rice this year, but I do still have a little traditional paddy rice. The oldest of my paddy rice is at or ready to be at permanent flood.
“In the row rice, we are cleaning it up with herbicide to start laying irrigation pipe. Overall, weed pressure is under control in the rice, but a few fields are traditionally an issue.
“I have some soybeans at R4, which are probably getting a fungicide application this week, but others are still getting planted. With a few exceptions, we are doing good on weed control. I’ve seen a few pests in random fields, but I haven’t seen any pests at treatment level yet. In the next 7 to 10 days, we will have a lot of beans moving into the R3 and R4 growth stages, and insect issues will likely start picking up then.
“Corn is in really good shape. Most of my growers got their intended acres planted in a timely manner, and it is all past tasseling. A few guys started irrigating in the past few weeks in the lighter soils, and some fungicide work is going out. Some applications are preventative and other growers are treating for a few disease signs popping up.
“Rain is in the forecast for this weekend from a developing tropical system (Claudette), so that will at least get some of our earliest planted corn on heavy ground very close to finishing out as far as irrigation goes. Most growers would welcome a good rain by that point.”
Sebe Brown, Louisiana Extension Field Crops Entomologist
“Things have quieted down in cotton. We hit 97 degrees today (June 15), the high is 97 again tomorrow, so we’re hovering right around 100 degrees. All these heat units are making the cotton start jumping especially if it has nitrogen under it.
“Thrips are still in the environment, but we’re growing out of the thrips susceptibility stage quickly. My colleague in the northeast part of the state still has higher thrips pressure, so some locations are still going to experience them. We have good cotton growing conditions right now to fight off thrips though. We have the heat units, so if you have the moisture, cotton is going to grow out of the susceptible stage.
“I haven’t had many calls regarding cotton aphids this year. We are definitely not seeing the blow up we saw last year. If we stay hot and dry like this, populations will start to increase. However, with the potential developing tropical depression hitting us at the end of the week, our dry spell may end. The radar does not indicate a defined part of Louisiana that could be affected (as of June 15).
“Some of the growers with the earliest planted cotton have started making applications for plant bugs especially in fields bordering corn. With the high price of corn, we have a lot of it across the state. From what I’m hearing, big populations of plant bugs are gathering in the cotton near corn.
“Our corn acres are moving along. Earlier planted corn is at brown silk with some even moving into dough. Some growers had a window in early March and planted a lot of acres of corn. We’re at the transition point where plant bugs are moving out of corn and into cotton particularly around field edges.
“Soybeans are pretty quiet right now. Around the state our beans range from R3 to cotyledon, and some places are still too wet to get them planted. Today was the last day to get maximum insurance payments, so I think a lot of guys were trying to make decisions on soybeans today.
“We saw an early flush of corn earworms in the vegetative stage beans, but those populations have been drawn into the corn as it’s at the ideal stage for corn earworm infestations. We also have more grain sorghum acres, so between the two, corn earworms are being sucked away from the soybeans. That means we are going to have a lot of susceptible beans and cotton at the opportune growth stage when the corn earworms come out of the corn and grain sorghum.
“It was easy to find worms in the corn I scouted today (June 15). It was not uncommon to find 2 to 3 worms per ear, so they’re in the environment.
“Sugarcane aphids are starting to show up in the earlier planted grain sorghum. Some applications are going today and will continue throughout the week (from June 15). The colonies are not hard to find in the area. It is especially easy to find sugarcane aphids in johnsongrass or grain sorghum near johnsongrass, which many of our grain sorghum acres are inundated with.”
Read MoreThe market’s assault on December’s contract high of 89.28 continued last week with 90-cent cotton now squarely in the crosshairs. Support came by way of data confirming tighter cotton supplies and a growing economy poised to fuel demand. Trading within 75 points of the previous high, December futures closed Friday at 87.92 for a gain of nearly seven cents since mid-May.
Read MoreRichard Griffing, Griffing Consulting, LLC, Monterey, Louisiana:
“This year has been awful – the worst start I’ve seen. We are wet, wet, wet, and we’re not even through planting, which is way behind for us. We’re probably 90% planted now. Half of those acres have been planted in the last 10 days (from June 8), and a lot of those will have to be replanted because of all this rain. We lost a lot of rice acres because we couldn’t get it planted, and cotton acres are down, too. We’re going to have a lot of late soybeans.
“Cotton ranges from cotyledon to pinhead square. Most of it is just at first true leaf to cotyledon stage. A lot of people who couldn’t get cotton planted just went with prevented planting this year.
Read MoreThe U.S. cotton projections for 2021/22 show a 100,000-bale increase in exports from last month, to 14.8 million bales, as stronger than expected late-season 2020/21 shipments extend past July 31.
Read MoreAverage spot quotations were 91 points higher than the previous week, according to the USDA, Agricultural Marketing Service’s Cotton and Tobacco Program. Quotations for the base quality of cotton (color 41, leaf 4, staple 34, mike 35-36 and 43-49, strength 27.0-28.9, and uniformity 81.0-81.9) in the seven designated markets averaged 79.41 cents per pound for the week ending Thursday, June 3, 2021.
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