Drought

• By Seshadri Ramkuma • Yields in the High Plains of Texas are expected to be below what was originally forecast. “Yields are 25% to 30% off the normal,” said Mark Brown, director of field services for Lubbock, Texas-based Plains Cotton Growers Inc. During the Nov. 15 meeting of all the stakeholders from the cotton sector, discussion centered on this ... Read More »

Widespread drought continues in Alabama, as nearly 84% of the state is in severe drought. In fact, 55% of the state’s soil and subsoil moisture is reported to be “very short.” Even with these conditions, producers are still hard at work bringing in this year’s crop. According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, 96% of the corn planted in Alabama ... Read More »

While it seems Georgia is finally seeing a break from the summer heat, the long hot summer, including a record-setting September, has already caused problems for many Georgia farmers. With almost no rain during September, drought conditions expanded across the state. Record-setting temperatures and almost no rain during September caused a major expansion of drought across Georgia. The dry conditions ... Read More »

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 »