Specialists Speaking

With planting underway and small seedlings emerging across the state, it is important to remember there are many things that can occur in the field affecting the survivability of those seedlings. Among those is seedling disease. Disease pressure can have a negative impact on seedling emergence and survivability, reducing stand and sometimes resulting in replanting. The two main seedling diseases ... Read More »

As we approach cotton-planting season, growers should be aware of all factors influencing initial crop establishment. By now, most have already selected varieties. It is time to focus on pieces of information that can assist you in making decisions during the planting process. When planting season rolls around, folks get busy. I encourage you to pay close attention to the ... Read More »

Recently, I’ve been in meetings in which my colleague Eddie McGriff has preached to corn growers about high-end production. Among his points are planter maintenance and precision planting. My take (with a touch of humor) is that the yield heroes in corn will prescribe an exact seeding rate (example – 33,128 seeds per acre) and demand that every seed emerge ... Read More »

I don’t like thick stands of cotton. What looks just right in May is too thick in August. And I sure don’t like hill-dropping that results in three or more plants per hill. I can’t stand spindly stalks. Think outside the box with me. First, I acknowledge that my experiences are biased by cotton in the southern extremes of the ... Read More »

With the challenges of 2019 behind us, I am sure this year in cotton production will be one we will not want to revisit any time soon. For most cotton producers across the state, it was one of lower-than- average yields, fiber quality issues that included some short staple and a complicated harvest with fall rains about once a week ... Read More »

As I write this mid-November, harvest has not been progressing as expected in West Texas and the Rolling Plains, primarily due to unfavorable weather conditions. In the Rolling Plains of Texas, Dr. Emi Kimura reports from Vernon that their first freeze this year happened two weeks earlier than what would normally be expected. She does believe this has reduced the ... Read More »

In October, scientists from universities, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, seed companies, Cotton Incorporated and the National Cotton Council convened to discuss the knowns and unknowns about cotton leaf roll disease. Considerable information has been generated over the past year or so. Still, there is much to be determined. This viral disease was first identified from cotton in east central ... Read More »