Crop Scan Ag Report: Cotton Looks Good as Defoliation Begins

Getting the 2023 cotton crop harvest- ready is the focus across the Cotton Belt, as more and more acres are being defoliated over the next few weeks. Despite some weekend rains and wind from a tropical storm in the Carolinas, our contributing consultants say the cotton crop looks good overall, with fingers are crossed for solid harvest results.

This is the final Crop Scan Ag Report for the 2023 season. Many thanks to our contributing consultants for their time and input.

Kerry Siders is Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Agent-IPM for Hockley, Cochran, and Lamb Counties.

Cotton harvest here on the Texas South Plains is inching closer by the day. Harvest aids are just now starting to go out on some very mature cotton. The rains we received recently have caused some fields to green back up with late growth which will make setting these fields up for harvest a bit more of a challenge.

Ethephon at a quart rate is at the backbone of most all our harvest aid applications. Then it is a matter of selecting your favorite defoliant. The defoliation products all generally work well here. I remind producers to pay attention to what the manufacturers recommend as adjuvants with these products, particularly the PPO’s (Aim, ETX, Sharpen, and Reviton). To deviate can cause poor performance.

Also, some defoliants can be temperature sensitive. As it cools, some of the defoliants such as Ginstar may require a bump in rate.

That leaves us with the desiccants, which are primarily paraquat products. Again, I remind producers that paraquat is activated by sunlight. If it is applied early in the day, it will generally result in a rapid burn of the plant tissue and result in typical desiccation (sticking of leaves). Versus an application applied later in the day, the paraquat will move deeper in the plant tissue (local systemic or translaminar movement). This can result in both desiccation and additional defoliation.

Have a safe harvest.