Agricultural News
Oklahoma's Cotton Crop Situation a "Very" Mixed Bag as Producers Race to Finish Planting
Fri, 16 Jun 2017 15:55:52 CDT
The Oklahoma cotton crop situation at this time is a very mixed bag. A lot of irrigated cotton was planted during the second week of May. As of this writing, cotton producers are still busy finishing up planting mostly dryland fields, working on weed management and watching for square formation. Some of our irrigated acres had to be replanted due to high intensity rainfall/thunderstorm events in the second half of May and on into early June.
Many producers also have noted that small seeded varieties have many times exhibited poor seedling vigor and experienced significant difficulty with respect to stand establishment. A quick glance at some of the seed counts indicated that very small seed were noted (up to 6,400 seed/lb) for some varieties. Some of these varieties have performed very well in variety trials and in producer fields last year, but this year challenging environmental/planting conditions impacted the germination and early season vigor of some of these small seeded types. Many early planted irrigated acres had to be replanted. Some dryland producers whose fields have not received much rainfall have been boxed in by poor emergence of these varieties. Some growers have indicated they needed to replant but unfortunately don't have the moisture to do so. Therefore, some may be stuck with less than desirable stands in 2017. However, there still are a lot of earlier planted fields that are nearing the squaring stage at this time and should be on track for blooms in early July.
Poor rainfall has accumulated over the last 30 days, according to the Oklahoma Mesonet, in the far southwestern corner of the state. This low rainfall situation has impacted cotton acreage southwestern Jackson County, and several counties bordering or near the 100th meridian with Texas, including Harmon, Greer, Beckham and Roger Mills. Other, more eastern areas are in much better shape.
Planted acreage will be very large for the state, and we may possibly have the most cotton acres since the early 1980s - at perhaps 500,000 or so. 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.
Source - OSU S.W. Research & Extension Center
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI
Top Agricultural News
More Headlines...
