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OVERVIEW
Way too much wind
Parts of the Midsouth have endured 7 or more days of stiff, nearly constant wind. It has beaten up cotton in places and, more significantly, delayed herbicide treatments and some insecticide applications. Rain fell over parts of the region Monday and Monday night. Where it fell, amounts varied from a trace to over 1.5 inches.
Insects around but no big hot spots
A few plant bug applications have been made on older, squaring cotton. Some aphid treatments also have gone out. Spider mites are not being mentioned much.
CROP REPORTS
Reynold Minsky, Ind. Consultant, Lake Providence, La.
“Cotton has 8 to 9 nodes and is fruiting on nodes 7 to 8. That’s going to make it a little ‘limby’ in the bottom. I don’t think that will hurt yields, since maybe we’ll pick a little higher and pick better. This weather is just what cotton needs, although corn and soybeans could use a rain now. It’s been 2 to 3 weeks since we’ve gotten rain.
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"The Mississippi River is going to fall today (Monday) and tomorrow, then rise to 41 feet at Vicksburg, which means more seep water under the levee and damage to any crops in those adjoining fields. The Midwest has been pounded by rain over the last week, and all that water is coming this way.”
Victor Roth, Roth Farm Service, Malden, Mo.
“I’m looking right now (Monday afternoon) at some cotton with 8 leaves and squaring. It’s probably the most advanced I have. Most of the rest is at 5 to 6 leaves. I feel like we’re somewhat behind normal in terms of squaring. I would certainly have liked to seen it start a week earlier. Plant growth was slow getting started, mostly due to cool, wet conditions at planting. Insects aren’t an issue, so far. We put out some treatments for thrips, but nothing widespread. These were cases where maybe a Temik box stopped up or in cotton that was kind of scrappy and beaten up by the weather. Populations weren’t big, but plants needed some relief.
“Wheat harvest should begin in 5 to 7 days, and we would have expected to have seen something more by now in the way of insects. Everybody would be ecstatic if if rained right now. It’s not that cotton needs rain right at the moment, but a shower would be great to activate sidedressed fertilizer. The wind has been blowing steadily for at least a week. It’s a little lighter today, and maybe we can start applying herbicides again.”
Scott Gifford, Gifford Crop Consulting, Manila, Ark.
“We’re spraying scattered thrips, but the main issue right now is getting Roundup out. Sprayers have been grounded since last Monday. We’ve had 8 straight days of wind. It’s been blowing pretty steadily between 15 and 20 mph, with gusts up to 30. For the most part, we haven’t been able to spray any crop. They’re calling for an 80% chance of rain tonight (Monday), and we need it.”
Joe Townsend, Ind. Consultant, Coahoma, Miss.
“Our biggest cotton is at node 8 and just starting to square. We sprayed a good bit of our cotton twice for thrips but are just about through with that. Our moisture is deficient. We haven’t watered any cotton yet, but if it doesn’t rain within a week we will probably start. We’ve had a lot of delayed herbicide applications due to the wind, and results haven’t been good in some cases because weeds aren’t healthy. We’re also seeing some barnyardgrass making it through Roundup applications. We’ve got places where you can find 10 plants, with 5 of them quite dead and 5 of them alive and very green. We’ve already had what appear to resistance issues with ryegrass and giant ragweed, not to mention marestail.”
Tom Barber, Arkansas Extension Cotton Specialist
“The wind this last week tore things up pretty badly. We need some relief. Nothing could be done about weeds because it was too windy to spray. A lot of these fields aren’t Flex cotton, and they missed the 4-leaf-stage treatment, so we’re reverting to hoods on a lot of young cotton. It’s getting dry. Hopefully, we’ll get some rain, and that will help shift us out of this windy pattern and keep us from having to irrigate, too.”
Darrin Dodds, Mississippi Cotton Specialist
“We could use a good rain. We went from too wet to too dry in places, and it only took 7 to 10 days for that to happen. The wind has been blowing pretty good in places. People are applying herbicides where they can and gearing up for plant growth regulator applications.”
Ralph Bagwell, Louisiana Extension Entomologist, Winnsboro, La.
“Thrips were heavy this season, probably the worst year I’ve seen. They moved off wheat, and we had to make some recommendations that wouldn’t normally be necessary. But most cotton is actively growing now, and we’re past the thrips stage. Everything planted in April and early May is well into squaring and looks good. I think we can find aphids in every field, but I haven’t found a treatable population, myself. Some plant bug treatments have started. We found 16% to 18% adults in some plots on farms up and down the Misssippi River. It is kind of early to see some of these densities, but in a lot of locations the cotton was near corn, and that could bias the numbers. A few people are treating for plant bugs and some also are treating aphids. Overall, though, only a small portion of the crop is receiving applications for either insect.”
Gus Lorenz, Arkansas Extension IPM Specialist
“Thrips pressure remains pretty high where seed treatments or Temik weren’t used. And in a lot of fields, that protection has played out a little, and some folks are making applications where pressure is moderately high. In my untreated plots, damage has been severe. In south Arkansas, some cotton is putting on its second and third squares, and a few plant bug treatments have been made. But the majority of the crop hasn’t quite reached that point. Plant bug numbers aren’t high, but it is a little concerning that treatments are needed this early. Aphids are around but light, and just a little cotton has been treated. We got rain last night (Monday) in parts of the state – and needed it badly. Amounts I’m hearing about range from a quarter- to a half-inch. Wind has really delayed treatments in a lot of cases. We’ve needed to spray thrips in plots at Lonoke, and we were at the field at 6 a.m. for 4 days in a row. But it was always too windy. Finally, we could spray today. In places, they were killing the terminals.”
Angus Catchot, Mississippi Extension Entomologist
“It’s mostly quiet in cotton. A few plant bug applications are being made on older cotton, but we’re not seeing big numbers. A few plant bugs are sitting on tassels in corn. A small number of thrips applications are still being made, but later cotton is jumping pretty good with these better growing conditions, so thrips are becoming less of a factor.
“We are getting reports about pretty high plant bug numbers in soybeans, from 10% to 20% in places. Because of that, we’re encouraging folks to lay off acephates if making stink bug applications so we can avoid further selection for acephate-resistant plant bug populations. Gordon Snodgrass (USDA research entomologist based at Stoneville) already is finding potential for field failures with acephates in 18 of the 19 populations he monitors, so we don’t want to do anything to further select for resistance this early.
“We have not seen the first spider mite in cotton. Consultants are telling us the same thing. We have found them on weeds in ditches and on soybeans, but not in cotton. That’s something positive.”
Chris Main, Tennessee Extension Cotton Specialist
“We’re finished planting cotton. A few people are replanting in spots, but that’s it. Our oldest cotton is at fourth to fifth leaf. Some thrips treatments were made in the last week or so. But that’s probably wrapping up except for whatever might be needed on later planted cotton after thrips finish moving out of wheat. I haven’t seen any plant bugs yet. We’re picking up a few spider mites in traditional hot spots.”
ALSO AT AGFAX.COM
Closing Cotton: Two-Sided Market Finishes Mixed 6/10
Farm Bill Q & A 6/10
Virginia Cotton: Cotton Advancing Rapidly 6/10
Tennessee: Dealing with horseweed, giant ragweed at this point in the season
Georgia Cotton Marketing News, 6-9, Market at Critical Juncture.|
Georgia Cotton Newsletter, 6-9, Early Season Thrips and Grasshoppers, Farm Bill, Nematode Management.
Ag Report (E-Central La.), 6-8. Getting drier; second app on borers in m corn likely; midge in grain sorghum; some soy fungicide apps starting; stink bugs in soy; aphids being treated in cotton.
Field Notes (Central Miss.), 6-9. Never, never, never give up.
NYBOT Cotton: Futures | Options
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