Cotton in the southern Delta, south and central Texas, Arizona, and California is pretty much in the ground. And planting activity should begin in earnest by early-to-mid May in the Southeast and most parts of the Mid-South. Here’s what our consultants had to report for late April/early May.
Kerry Siders is Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Agent-IPM for Hockley, Cochran, and Lamb Counties.
We’ll soon be planting cotton here on the Southern High Plains of Texas. The most critical component to this equation is moisture, and it is missing. We have not had good measurable (> 1”) rain since October 1-2, 2021. Needless to say, we are in an Extreme Drought situation according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
Producers here know that we supplement rainfall with irrigation and not the other way around. Our only prayer is that we will plant, we will get cotton up, and that we receive good rainfall in May and June.
We often focus so much on stand establishment during planting that we tend to overlook early insect, weed, and disease issues. Pests such as thrips, wireworms, seedling disease, and various emerging weed species can potentially rob us of stands, vigor, moisture, nutrients, and most importantly time. So, producers must have someone keeping an eye on already planted acres for all these pests. Whether it is the producer themselves or anyone who is trained to detect these pests and evaluate the health of the cotton, it is extremely important to take care of what is already emerged.