The Turnrow
_______________________________________________________________________
Your Cotton, Your Choice.
The Turnrow
quality. This could be even truer if the “Super El Nino”, some meteorologists are calling for, does by Jeff Thompson, pan out, bringing with it a wet October. Choice Cotton / AQCA Manager With so little yet picked yields are still an Sept 11, 2015 estimate. Cotton is in what I call the “ugly stage” now, as plants tend to shrink as they drop leaves and bolls are not fully open. This makes it easy to Fall is, without a doubt, my favorite time under estimate yield potential. However, I believe of year. The oppressive summer heat gives way we are looking at a very good crop. Boll counts to cooler temperatures while the appearance of are on par for a better than average yield as these open bolls signals harvest is near. And lest we new varieties continue to exhibit the horsepower not forget, NCAA football returns in all its glory! we’ve all come to appreciate. Just last week, I Here’s wishing your favorite team good luck this adjusted my in house yield estimates for this season, unless they square up against the Tigers region upward to 850 pounds. I wish you all good from Auburn! luck this harvest season and stay safe. Southeast Crop Conditions Cotton in this region has matured rapidly over the last month or so. Defoliation up to now has been limited to early planted cotton and that which prematurely cut out due to dry conditions. The weather has been favorable with warm temperatures and little in the way of rain, which is welcomed. Rain at this stage would seriously do more harm than good. With a large percent of the crop mature, we’ll see the leaves being taken off on a significant number of acres over the next couple of week. Defoliation practices and products are the focus of this week’s newsletter as you will see as you read on. We are still a few weeks away from being in the midst of harvesting. At present, I only know of two gins who have received cotton. BCT gin in Quitman, Georgia ginned the state’s first bales of the 2015 crop last week, while Sowega gin in Climax, Georgia reported having two modules on the yard. Whether good or bad, cotton harvesting may take a back seat in the Southeast due to the larger number acres of peanuts. A word of caution, history tells us unnecessary delays in harvesting cotton are normally detrimental to both yield and
Southwest Crop Conditions Considering this crop started off two weeks late, it’s doing really well. Don’t get me wrong, we still need a late freeze for this irrigated cotton to fully mature, but we’re two percent above our long term average on heat units. Most of our cotton has really made a lot of progress in the month of August. Although we do have pockets, mostly in the Rolling Plains, where some fields have not received any rain since early July. With temperatures in excess of 100 degrees, you can imagine what the lack of rain and heat has done to some of the dryland crop in these unfortunate areas. Overall, however, we’ve got a much better crop than what we’ve seen over the past four years. There hasn’t been much defoliation going on, but we have had some. Harvest should kick off in early October, but the bulk of the crop won’t start stripped until late October or early November. We’re optimistic about the quality of this crop, but if we start seeing this “Super El Nino” set in, as Jeff mentioned, it could start affecting the color, trash & bark. As we all know, quality is going to be a huge factor in both demand and, ultimately, the price this year.
Cotton Defoliation Defoliation and harvest aid decisions can often be difficult, as many factors can influence product selection, rates and timing of applications. Discounting such an important decision can adversely affect fiber quality and yield. Important in today’ market environment. Defoliant products are designed to perform best when cotton plants are cutting out on their own with a good uniform boll set and temperatures are warm. Fortunately, this describes current conditions with the exception of a few drought stressed fields. Expert weather forecasters (that’s an oxymoron now isn’t it) are quick to warn of a super El Nino building in the Pacific. They are suggesting it may be the strongest in some eight to ten years. If it develops, the entire Cotton Belt could experience a “wetter than normal” fall. This potential threat is further reason to defoliate fields when cotton is mature enough without delay. There are a host of defoliant products on the market for you and your consultant to select from. These can be grouped in two classes by their mode of action, hormonal or herbicidal. Often a combination of the two work best, especially on drought stressed, less receptive plants. The table below is a list of these materials and their specific actions. Special consideration should always be given to regrowth control, especially in light of a potential El Nino. Since cotton is a perennial, expect regrowth to occur rapidly under high moisture conditions. Thus, including a product such as Dropp, Freefall or Ginstar that controls regrowth is advisable. Material Mature leaves Def/Folex Thiadiazuron Harvade Ginstar Aim ET Prep/Ethephon Finish Cotton Quick
Excellent Excellent Excellent Excellent Excellent Excellent Fair Excellent Excellent
Timing of defoliants has a greater effect on fiber quality than the product choice itself. As you know, cotton is generally considered safe to defoliate when 60 percent of the bolls are open or when the plant reaches four nodes above cracked boll. However, low plant populations and gaps in fruiting can make these methods misleading. Instead, focus your attention on the unopened bolls. When the last harvestable boll is difficult to slice open, the lint strings out when sliced and the seed coat is brown and hardened defoliants can be safely applied. Since these products do not move within the plant but rather work on contact, coverage is extremely important. Adequate water volume is essential to insure proper coverage. When applying by ground equipment, fifteen to twenty gallons of water per acre should be a minimum. Also, nozzle types can be a factor. The smaller the droplet size the better the coverage in most cases. In dense thick plant canopies, hollow cone nozzles can be a help by delivering smaller size droplets. However, drift then becomes a concern. A good trade off to mitigate drift while still maintaining good coverage is to use regular flat fan tips.
Juvenile Growth
Fair Excellent Fair Excellent Excellent Excellent Poor Poor Poor
Regrowth Prevention Poor Excellent Poor Excellent Poor Poor Poor Fair Fair
Boll Opening None None None None None None Excellent Excellent Excellent
Russell Beakley Rule, Tx (dryland)
Tanner Park Rotan, Tx (dryland)
Dane Mullins MGM Farms Silverton, Tx (irrigated)
ATTENTION: AQCA and Choice Cotton Company have relocated their offices to 119 East Main Street Prattville, Alabama 36067. Please note our new mailing address and send all future documents to this location.
John Mitchell 119 East Main Street Prattville, Alabama 36067 Phone: (334) 380-4738
Jeff Thompson 119 East Main Street Prattville, Alabama 36067 Phone: (334) 365-3369 [email protected]
[email protected]
AQCA.COM
choicecotton. COM
David Mullins PO BOX 389 Rotan, Texas 79546 Phone: (806) 549-4137
[email protected] AQCA.COM
Bryan Wells 281 Cook Womack Rd. Colquitt, Ga 39837 Phone: (229) 540-5548 [email protected] AQCA.COM
Your Cotton, Your Choice.
The Turnrow
quality. This could be even truer if the “Super El Nino”, some meteorologists are calling for, does by Jeff Thompson, pan out, bringing with it a wet October. Choice Cotton / AQCA Manager With so little yet picked yields are still an Sept 11, 2015 estimate. Cotton is in what I call the “ugly stage” now, as plants tend to shrink as they drop leaves and bolls are not fully open. This makes it easy to Fall is, without a doubt, my favorite time under estimate yield potential. However, I believe of year. The oppressive summer heat gives way we are looking at a very good crop. Boll counts to cooler temperatures while the appearance of are on par for a better than average yield as these open bolls signals harvest is near. And lest we new varieties continue to exhibit the horsepower not forget, NCAA football returns in all its glory! we’ve all come to appreciate. Just last week, I Here’s wishing your favorite team good luck this adjusted my in house yield estimates for this season, unless they square up against the Tigers region upward to 850 pounds. I wish you all good from Auburn! luck this harvest season and stay safe. Southeast Crop Conditions Cotton in this region has matured rapidly over the last month or so. Defoliation up to now has been limited to early planted cotton and that which prematurely cut out due to dry conditions. The weather has been favorable with warm temperatures and little in the way of rain, which is welcomed. Rain at this stage would seriously do more harm than good. With a large percent of the crop mature, we’ll see the leaves being taken off on a significant number of acres over the next couple of week. Defoliation practices and products are the focus of this week’s newsletter as you will see as you read on. We are still a few weeks away from being in the midst of harvesting. At present, I only know of two gins who have received cotton. BCT gin in Quitman, Georgia ginned the state’s first bales of the 2015 crop last week, while Sowega gin in Climax, Georgia reported having two modules on the yard. Whether good or bad, cotton harvesting may take a back seat in the Southeast due to the larger number acres of peanuts. A word of caution, history tells us unnecessary delays in harvesting cotton are normally detrimental to both yield and
Southwest Crop Conditions Considering this crop started off two weeks late, it’s doing really well. Don’t get me wrong, we still need a late freeze for this irrigated cotton to fully mature, but we’re two percent above our long term average on heat units. Most of our cotton has really made a lot of progress in the month of August. Although we do have pockets, mostly in the Rolling Plains, where some fields have not received any rain since early July. With temperatures in excess of 100 degrees, you can imagine what the lack of rain and heat has done to some of the dryland crop in these unfortunate areas. Overall, however, we’ve got a much better crop than what we’ve seen over the past four years. There hasn’t been much defoliation going on, but we have had some. Harvest should kick off in early October, but the bulk of the crop won’t start stripped until late October or early November. We’re optimistic about the quality of this crop, but if we start seeing this “Super El Nino” set in, as Jeff mentioned, it could start affecting the color, trash & bark. As we all know, quality is going to be a huge factor in both demand and, ultimately, the price this year.
Cotton Defoliation Defoliation and harvest aid decisions can often be difficult, as many factors can influence product selection, rates and timing of applications. Discounting such an important decision can adversely affect fiber quality and yield. Important in today’ market environment. Defoliant products are designed to perform best when cotton plants are cutting out on their own with a good uniform boll set and temperatures are warm. Fortunately, this describes current conditions with the exception of a few drought stressed fields. Expert weather forecasters (that’s an oxymoron now isn’t it) are quick to warn of a super El Nino building in the Pacific. They are suggesting it may be the strongest in some eight to ten years. If it develops, the entire Cotton Belt could experience a “wetter than normal” fall. This potential threat is further reason to defoliate fields when cotton is mature enough without delay. There are a host of defoliant products on the market for you and your consultant to select from. These can be grouped in two classes by their mode of action, hormonal or herbicidal. Often a combination of the two work best, especially on drought stressed, less receptive plants. The table below is a list of these materials and their specific actions. Special consideration should always be given to regrowth control, especially in light of a potential El Nino. Since cotton is a perennial, expect regrowth to occur rapidly under high moisture conditions. Thus, including a product such as Dropp, Freefall or Ginstar that controls regrowth is advisable. Material Mature leaves Def/Folex Thiadiazuron Harvade Ginstar Aim ET Prep/Ethephon Finish Cotton Quick
Excellent Excellent Excellent Excellent Excellent Excellent Fair Excellent Excellent
Timing of defoliants has a greater effect on fiber quality than the product choice itself. As you know, cotton is generally considered safe to defoliate when 60 percent of the bolls are open or when the plant reaches four nodes above cracked boll. However, low plant populations and gaps in fruiting can make these methods misleading. Instead, focus your attention on the unopened bolls. When the last harvestable boll is difficult to slice open, the lint strings out when sliced and the seed coat is brown and hardened defoliants can be safely applied. Since these products do not move within the plant but rather work on contact, coverage is extremely important. Adequate water volume is essential to insure proper coverage. When applying by ground equipment, fifteen to twenty gallons of water per acre should be a minimum. Also, nozzle types can be a factor. The smaller the droplet size the better the coverage in most cases. In dense thick plant canopies, hollow cone nozzles can be a help by delivering smaller size droplets. However, drift then becomes a concern. A good trade off to mitigate drift while still maintaining good coverage is to use regular flat fan tips.
Juvenile Growth
Fair Excellent Fair Excellent Excellent Excellent Poor Poor Poor
Regrowth Prevention Poor Excellent Poor Excellent Poor Poor Poor Fair Fair
Boll Opening None None None None None None Excellent Excellent Excellent
Russell Beakley Rule, Tx (dryland)
Tanner Park Rotan, Tx (dryland)
Dane Mullins MGM Farms Silverton, Tx (irrigated)
ATTENTION: AQCA and Choice Cotton Company have relocated their offices to 119 East Main Street Prattville, Alabama 36067. Please note our new mailing address and send all future documents to this location.
John Mitchell 119 East Main Street Prattville, Alabama 36067 Phone: (334) 380-4738
Jeff Thompson 119 East Main Street Prattville, Alabama 36067 Phone: (334) 365-3369 [email protected]
[email protected]
AQCA.COM
choicecotton. COM
David Mullins PO BOX 389 Rotan, Texas 79546 Phone: (806) 549-4137
[email protected] AQCA.COM
Bryan Wells 281 Cook Womack Rd. Colquitt, Ga 39837 Phone: (229) 540-5548 [email protected] AQCA.COM
