Category Archives: Cotton
We Shouldn’t Plant Our Grain Sorghum the way we Plant our Cotton
This item is adapted from an AgriLife submission to Texas Grain Sorghum Association’s “Sorghum Insider” –Don Peterson, Dawson Co., TX (~2000) Dr. Calvin Trostle, Extension Agronomy/TAMU Dept. of Soil & Crop Sciences, Lubbock, (806) 746-6101, ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu December 2023 I was a new Extension agronomist in West Texas when I met Mr. Peterson, who was in his 60s. He farmed his first grain crop in the 1950s as a teenager. What do you think Mr. Peterson meant? I posed Mr. Peterson’s question this past Wednesday in… Read More →
Wireworms: a threat to stand establishment in the High Plains cotton
Suhas Vyavhare, Associate Professor and Extension Entomologist As we approach the planting season, one of the first groups of insects that we need to start thinking about are wireworms. Wireworm issues are on the rise with increased adoption of conservation tillage practices and potentially the reduced use of aldicarb, a broad-spectrum insecticide over the last decade or so. Although cotton is not a preferred host for wireworms, they still can inflict serious damage to cotton seedlings especially in fields following grain crops. What are wireworms? There are two… Read More →
2021 Texas High Plains Cotton Harvest-Aid Guide
Murilo Maeda, Extension Specialist – Cotton, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Wayne Keeling, Systems Agronomist, Texas A&M AgriLife Research INTRODUCTION Cotton is cultivated as an annual crop but is inherently a deciduous perennial. As such, it is a flexible crop that responds well to both environmental and management factors. Harvest-aid chemicals are generally used to facilitate mechanical harvest of a mature crop by promoting leaf abscission, boll opening, and desiccating plants for stripper harvest. Premature application of these chemicals can result in loss of lint… Read More →
Cotton Management Following Inundated or Saturated Conditions
Dr. Benjamin McKnight Extension Cotton Specialist, TAMU Dept. of Soil and Crop Sciences, College Station, (979) 845-0870 After a dry start to the 2021 Texas cotton growing year, most of the production regions around the state have received much needed relief to drought conditions. The Texas drought monitor maps from the month of April puts into perspective how dry conditions were across the state, with approximately 90% of Texas in some form of moisture deficit. Currently in July, approximately 90% of the state is not considered to… Read More →
Cotton foliar symptoms in western Texas driven by weather, not disease
Reagan Noland, Assistant Professor and Extension Agronomist Tom Isakeit, Professor and Extension Plant Pathologist Cotton across much of western Texas has recently displayed varying levels of premature defoliation and foliar discoloration following a drastic shift from hot and dry to abnormally cold and wet conditions in early September. The stark visual symptoms raised many questions and concerns regarding potential impacts to yield and quality, whether the situation could have been prevented, and whether intervention would have yielded any benefit. Producers and industry professionals have suspected foliar disease… Read More →
Current and upcoming options for managing reniform nematode in cotton
Jennifer Dudak1 and Reagan Noland2 1. Graduate Research Assistant, Texas A&M University 2. Assistant Professor & Extension Agronomist, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, San Angelo, TX As the threat of reniform nematodes increases on cotton yields in Texas, so does the need for tools to contend with this pest. A two-part study was initiated to identify the most effective management tools among cotton genetics and nematicides. This is a brief summary of findings from the first year (2019) at three locations across the state with known reniform nematode… Read More →
East and South Texas Cotton Harvest Aids: The Art and Science
By James Griffin Cotton Extension PhD. Student Applying cotton harvest aids has been referred to as an art. In this article, we will examine methods to change the narrative to more of a science. The first decision to make is when to “pull the trigger,” secondly rather to make one or two applications, and finally which products to use. From my experience, the 60% open boll method has been the standard for some time although other methods are most likely more accurate than eye balling percentage open… Read More →
Cotton Blue Disease, A Virus Disease Not in Texas, So Far
A new virus disease of cotton found so far in several southeastern US states has attracted a lot of attention lately. This is the “cotton blue disease”, which is caused by the cotton leaf roll dwarf virus. Symptoms are seen in the new growth following virus infection and include stunting, blistering or crinkling of leaves (Figure 1), and downward cupping of leaves (Figure 2). Other symptoms can include reddening, shortened internodes, upward cupping of leaves and abnormal top growth. Plants may also exhibit a green-blue leaf… Read More →