Southwest Cotton: Hurting for Heat Units

Hotter weather is welcome over most of our coverage area. Cotton is a week to three weeks behind after the cool, wet spring and much of the summer. But the mid-to-high-90s should help fields recover, notes AgriLife specialist Murilo Maeda.

Excessive vegetation remains an issue. Timely PGR applications are a must for many.

Brown stink bugs and tarnished plant bugs highlight regional insect activity. But overall insect pressure remains light.

“We’re looking for rain today and we can use it. There were a few surprise popcorn showers Sunday. The timing couldn’t have been much better.

“The crop is still a mixed bag. Some is really beautiful. We saw the first blooms just after July 15 and the other stuff has started to bloom. Overall, the crop remains a little late. We need more heat units after the last cool spell in early July.

“There are a few fields with wilted cotton that is puzzling. We are waiting on analysis from a plant pathologist. Weed control has been mostly successful. There isn’t much pigweed out there. Guys are now watching for excessive vegetation growth. They need to manage their PGRs well to help retain squares.

“There are a few insect issues. Tarnished plant bugs are in scattered fields. In one field I saw a few fleahopper nymphs and tarnished plant bug and stink bug adults. But square retention was good.

“Corn is drying down. If there are tarnished plant bugs in corn, we might see more pressure. We’ll also watch for bollworms as corn dries down.”

David Drake, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension IPM Agent, Northeast Texas: 

“Our earlier planted stuff looks pretty good. It’s in bloom and starting to cutout. That involves about one-third of our acres. The remaining two-thirds of the acres were planted late and well into June after continued rainfall. It’s just now starting to square. So we’re concerned about having enough heat units in the fall before the crop matures.

“Insect pressure is light, although there are a few fleahoppers around. We’ll have to watch for late insect pressure on the late cotton. Weeds are a problem in areas where the crop is behind.

“Growers will start harvesting corn in the next few weeks. Sorghum harvest will follow that. Soybeans look good and are progressing well.”

Suhas Vyavhare, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Entomologist, Lubbock: 

“There are still quite a few fleahoppers out there and some fields have been treated for them. As we see more blooms, fleahopper damage will be limited. But if a field is late, fleahoppers can still inflect economic damage on squares.

“I’m seeing beet armyworms and yellow stripe armyworms, mostly in weeds. But farmers need to watch closely for them moving into fields, especially in non-Bt cotton. There is high earworm worm pressure in corn. It’s possible that a next generation of moths will come out of corn late in the season and head to cotton. So farmers need to look out for bollworms, as well as lygus and stink bugs.

“There were spotty showers in the area last night (July 25). The Halfway research station received over 1 inch. That will help soil moisture, which is already looking good over much of the region. There is excellent cotton. In some instances, I can’t tell dryland cotton from irrigated.”

Randy Boman, Windstar Cotton Agronomics Manager, Edmonson, Texas: 

“Our Oklahoma dryland research plots near Frederick, Hobart and Brinkman look good. They were planted June 10 to 18 and should bloom the next week or two. Irrigated fields also look good in Oklahoma. Overall, things are fine, but there are also thin and skippy stands. There are a few aphids around Brinkman, but lady beetle beneficials in the area should get them in the next week to 10 days.

“In Texas, trials near Edmonson look decent while still a little behind. In the northern Panhandle at Sunray, stuff planted on May 7 is blooming. In all of these cases, PGRs are needed to help manage growth and protect boll development. We need to keep plants from getting away from us. Some areas remain short on heat units. Earlier this month, Amarillo was about 18% behind in heat units.

“The shortage of herbicides and other chemicals is getting tighter. It’s hard to find Liberty or any glufosinate generics. They’re almost non-existent. Roundup and other glyphosate products are also short, as are insecticides. The value of Bt cotton is showing up more this year.”

“Some bolls are open in the Upper Coast, but there’s a lot of late cotton after continuous rain and flooding in the spring and early summer. The crop is all over the place. Most cotton is two to three weeks behind. We’ll be harvesting in late August and early September when we would normally try to be finished by September. Thankfully, counties farther south are nearly on time.

“Drier weather is helping, but there are fields that have been inaccessible for two weeks. As for weeds, we’ve killed them, killed them again and killed them again. Grass has been a problem. So has rank cotton, where we couldn’t get Pix applied. Some is 5 feet to 6 feet tall.

“Bugs have been relatively quiet, but we’re starting to see more stink bugs and lygus. Stink bugs can be tough to deal with. Guys who couldn’t get fields sprayed have a lot of stink bug damage. There are also leaf-footed bugs flying in we’ll have to deal with.”

Ben McKnight, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Cotton Specialist, College Station:

“After sunshine and continued warm weather, area cotton is performing well. It has bounced back from early cool and wet conditions. Our research station plots average 6 to 7 NAWF. Commercial fields look good from the highway and a couple of areas are getting close to cutout.

“Weeds are pretty much under control. To my surprise, some later-planted cotton that had weed issues looks better. Growers took action to get rid of resistant pigweed. The initial push for applying PGRs has passed, and I haven’t seen any commercial fields with growth that sticks out like a sore thumb. Since we’re easing into a drier period, we may have to irrigate a few fields to keep crops moving if we don’t catch a couple of rains the next few weeks.

“We’re having to treat fields for brown stink bugs. Bollworms, however, seem to be under control. The three-gene varieties are holding on.”

Robert Flynn, New Mexico State University Extension Soils/Agronomist, Artesia:

“We had a nice shower last night (July 26) but there’s plenty of sunshine today. We need it because some fields are behind on heat units due to cloudy days. Plants are blooming about two-thirds of the way up and bolls are forming on lower branches.

“There has been concern about diseases with the wet weather we’ve had. But I’m not seeing any issues. I’ve been on several farms in recent days and their weed control remains strong. There have been no major insect damage reports, but we’ve had bollworms on our research farm at Artesia. They remain below threshold.”

Mark Nemec, MJN Consulting, Waco, Texas:

“The rain stopped late last week, and cotton is looking better after receiving sunshine. It’s nice not having to walk in mud. The later stuff is finally coming in and most cotton is in full bloom. Plants are setting a lot of bolls and look decent.

“For the most part, we’re in good shape in weed control. There are issues at the ends and corners of fields that need cleanup, but overall weed control is good.

“Insect-wise, we’re seeing a big population of stink bugs moving in from grain crops. There are mostly browns but there are a few greens as well. Insecticide treatments are going out to control them. Bollworms are not a big issue, but there are a few scattered in two-gene Bt varieties. Egg counts have stayed low in most places. There are a few spider mite issues here and there but nothing major.

“Corn harvest will kick off next week. Milo is also about ready to cut. We needed to treat for sugarcane aphids, but beneficials helped clean up many fields on their own.”

Alan Seitz, Nutrien Ag Solutions, Wilcox, Arizona: 

“It’s 91 right now (afternoon of July 27) and clouding up. It will likely rain, as our active monsoon period continues. We’re applying fungicides for preventative southwestern cotton rust control. I haven’t seen any rust up to now, but we need to be ready for it.

“The crop is at mid-bloom and setting bolls nicely. It looks really good, but we’re spraying for lygus on fields near where alfalfa has been cut.

“I’m making the final dicamba applications this week to clean up any remaining weeds. While others have applied PGRs, I haven’t treated anything yet because it was hot early on when we started. But that could change if growth gets out of hand.”

ALSO OF NOTE

Ag Economy: Federal Reserve Observations from July 

Texas Upper Coast IPM: Heat Units and Stink Bugs 

Thompson on Cotton: Fundamentals Continue to Gain Strength  

Cleveland on Cotton: 85-90 Floor Is Hard 

Drought Monitor Weekly: Upper Midwest Still Dry, Heavy Rains Hit Great Lakes