Agricultural News
Lack of Rainfall Concerns Oklahoma Cottom Farmers as Planting Gets Underway
Fri, 31 May 2013 11:17:52 CDT
Randy Boman, Research Director and Cotton Extension Program Leader at the OSU Southwest Oklahoma Research and Extension Center in Altus, writes in the latest edition of the Cotton Comments newsletter:
Planting of the 2013 Oklahoma cotton crop is well underway. Rainfall or lack thereof is the predominant concern of many producers and the industry. Although many areas of the state have been blessed with abundant rainfall, we are still in the grips of Extreme to Exceptional Drought (D3 and D4 categories) in the historical cotton producing area of southwestern Oklahoma. Most growers in this area are watching the skies and forecasts and are hopeful that badly needed precipitation will soon arrive.
For the most part, dryland acreage is still on hold. June 20th is the final planting date for insurance purposes for most of the counties affected by drought. We have about three weeks to obtain substantial precipitation and to relieve the pressure of facing another failure. Little if any runoff has been noted from various spotty rainfall events to help alleviate the critical situations of Lake Lugert and Lake Tom Steed, currently at 16 and 33 percent of capacity, respectively. It appears that for the third year in a row, the cotton situation in the Lugert-Altus Irrigation District is dire. The final planting date for insurance purposes for irrigated cotton in Jackson and surrounding counties is June 10th. We are still very dry at the Lake Lugert irrigated Southwest Research and Extension Center and at the satellite dryland Tipton Experiment Station. Unless substantial rainfall occurs over the next several days, we are facing the prospect of stand failures at these sites.
High winds have plagued producers who were lucky enough to obtain some substantial spotty rainfall events. The good news is that we have had fewer 100 degree days with high winds thus far in 2013, as compared to 2011 and 2012. As soon as temperatures warmed up, planters began to roll in mid-May after the final late spring freeze of 28 degrees on May 3rd. Areas with groundwater based irrigation for center pivots or subsurface drip irrigation rapidly planted cotton. For other irrigated areas with failed wheat, planting was somewhat delayed by harvesting and baling of the wheat crop. In general, cotton in the Caddo County and surrounding area has encountered some badly needed rainfall to assist with land preparation and stand establishment. We are off to yet another rough start. It is almost unfathomable to consider a third consecutive year of disastrous summer crop losses.
Thunderstorms have wreaked havoc with stands in some areas where growers were lucky enough to get stands established. Because of this it is important to inspect fields to determine the amount of damage or if excessive stand loss occurred. Replanting decisions vary from field to field. Many times after violent thunderstorms it is important to get a handle on the root health of the plants, stem bruising, etc. Once we get near the final planting date for insurance purposes, it becomes critical to evaluate the stand situation, as the amount of stand loss and yield potential needs to be compared to the yield loss potential arising from late planting. We are at a disadvantage because we can't necessarily predict the actual first freeze date in the fall. However, based on results from a long-term irrigated cotton date of planting project conducted at the OSU Southwest Research and Extension Center at Altus, yield potential drops precipitously after June 15. The final planting dates for insurance purposes for dryland in most southern Oklahoma counties are June 20. Typically, dryland production is lower and it's easier to mature a lower yielding crop with later planting or replanting.
A while back, we developed a publication concerning the difficult replant decision making process. Although a Texas publication, I believe the criteria for southwestern Oklahoma are similar.
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