Drought

As members of the agricultural community, everyone works hard. You set lofty standards for yourselves because achieving goals is hardwired in your psyche. You consciously or unconsciously set the bar higher and higher and convince yourself if you try hard enough you can clear it. Easy peasy. And then, as is the nature of agriculture, you encounter things over which ... Read More »

Weather went from extremely wet to extremely hot and dry across most of Texas, according to the Texas State Climatologist. Dr. John Nielsen-Gammon, College Station, said the weather turned from record-breaking rainfall in the spring to being among the driest and hottest summers on record. The jet stream migrated north, away from Texas, and tropical thunderstorms didn’t deliver in the ... Read More »

• By Lindsey Thiessen • Cercospora leaf spot of cotton (Fig. 1), caused Cercospora gossypina (syn. Mycosphaerella gossypina), has been observed across North Carolina cotton growing regions. Foliar symptoms include reddish lesions that enlarge to have white to light brown centers. These symptoms may also be similar to other foliar diseases, like Stemphylium leaf spot or Alternaria leaf spot. Symptoms ... Read More »

• By Adam Hixson,  Lubbock, Texas • Weather is the most challenging obstacle that faces any farmer. Around planting time in any given year in the Texas South Plains, High Plains and Panhandle, about 4 million to 5 million acres of cotton goes in the ground. Cotton is king in this area. The 2018 season was probably the roughest planting year ... Read More »

When Bon Jovi’s hit song “Livin’ on a Prayer” was released three decades ago, it quickly rose to the No. 1 spot on the Hot 100 chart on Valentine’s Day 1987, according to Billboard. The lyrics particularly appeared to resonate with hard-working people trying to “hold on to what we’ve got.” Today, the phrase “livin’ on a prayer” has evolved ... Read More »

In looking back at the 2018 season, a multitude of adjectives come to mind that describe the weather and field conditions. Wet, hot, dry, windy, sunny, muddy — they ran the gamut this year. Some areas fared well, while others did not. In Specialists Speaking, the state cotton specialists did a good job of recapping what they saw in their ... Read More »

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension agronomists talk about this year’s RACE trials. • By Kay Ledbetter •  Much like producers’ fields across the High Plains, the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service cotton trials are seeing a significant difference in performance this year between dryland and irrigated trials. “While cotton can tolerate hot and dry conditions better than many crops, this year’s drought ... Read More »