Agricultural News
USDA Ups Cotton Acres Planted in Oklahoma by 55% to 470,000 Acres- Randy Boman Calls the Crop Thus Far in Good Shape
Fri, 30 Jun 2017 13:43:05 CDT
The 2017 cotton planting window is now closed for the state. According to OSU State Cotton Specialist Dr. Randy Boman, "it has been a fairly challenging start for many producers, but we believe the overall crop is in good condition. We now have cotton ranging in development from cotyledon stage up through the late squaring stage. Earlier planted irrigated cotton is progressing rapidly toward bloom. Producers with earlier planted irrigated cotton have been or will soon be cranking up irrigation systems. The Lugert-Altus Irrigation District released irrigation water last week, but the weekend's excellent rainfall resulted in a stand-down for a few days. In many dryland fields, the recent rainfall has been beneficial to fill in stands after high winds dried out soil in the seed zone behind the planters. Some areas that have not received a behind-the-planter rainfall are struggling to obtain good stands. Producers are continuing weed control operations, shaping beds for furrow irrigation, and early season insect management.
"The USDA-National Agricultural Statistics Service released the 2017 Planted Acreage Report today. According to NASS, they are projecting 470,000 planted cotton acres in the state in 2017. For the state, this is a 55% increase compared to last year's planted acres, which were 305,000. Total upland cotton acres in the U.S. were estimated at just under 12 million, up about 20% compared to 2016. If we have a good to excellent production season in the state, the bale volume could once again challenge ginning infrastructure.
"We have producers who are new to cotton and some who have planted cotton for the first time in many years. Boll weevil eradication across most of the U.S. Cotton Belt, and in the state has been very successful and is a major contributing factor to the continued profitability of cotton production. It has been a long, difficult, and challenging task to rid our state and most of the Cotton Belt of this invasive species that for such a long time negatively impacted our production. We all need to do our part in keeping this pest from resurfacing in our state. Some new cotton producers may be unaware of this ongoing program. It is important for producers who are not familiar with this program to contact the Oklahoma Boll Weevil Organization to make sure their new fields are properly identified and trapped."
The complete Cotton Comments newsletter as produced by Dr. Randy Boman and Jerry Goodson can be seen by clicking on the PDF link at the bottom of this story.
00956_Cotton_Comments_Volume_7_edition_5_June_30_2017.pdf
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI
Top Agricultural News
More Headlines...
