Harvest

• By Clint Thompson • What was an extremely promising Georgia cotton crop was devastated when Hurricane Michael ravaged south Georgia Oct. 10-11. According to Jared Whitaker, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension cotton agronomist, the prospects of 1,500 to 1,800 pounds of dryland cotton for some producers were reduced, resulting in 80 to 90 percent losses in some fields. “It’s much ... Read More »

In the days before Hurricane Michael ripped across the Southeast, social media was blowing up with photos of some of the most beautiful cotton ever. Stunning fields of solid white gold. And then the weather forecast turned ugly. Meteorologists confirmed that Hurricane Michael was gaining strength and headed toward the Florida Panhandle. Southeast cotton farmers were racing the clock to ... Read More »

After some mid- and late-season pest issues (lygus, mites), and a rough summer with high temperatures, most cotton fields still look relatively good going into boll maturation. Late plantings and fields that sustained a lot of early to mid-season lygus losses have top crops that will be important to attaining decent yields. They will need to be irrigated later than ... Read More »

Oklahoma Brothers Carry On Cotton Legacy. By Carroll Smith, Editor — In 1906, the year before Oklahoma was granted statehood, the Williams’ family traveled in a covered wagon from Texas and homesteaded east of Altus. W.W. “Luck” Williams was a small-time farmer, and his son, Murray — who loved cotton more than anything in the world — started farming full-time ... Read More »

CALIFORNIA Heading into the 2018 growing season, the biggest “maybe” out there again is irrigation water supplies and lack of rain and snow to date. Water supply issues are not yet a “done deal” for 2018. We are still hoping for some rain and snow and better decisions and release of workable amounts of water for California farmers out of ... Read More »

CALIFORNIA The remaining winter and early spring months may bring some rain or snow, but weather patterns in late 2017 and early 2018 look like a dry prelude to the 2018 planting season. So far this winter, central California has had relatively normal temperatures but extraordinarily dry conditions. Uncertain rainfall and snow forecasts raise concerns about irrigation water supplies, and ... Read More »

CALIFORNIA Heading into winter, the question of uncertain irrigation water supplies in California’s San Joaquin Valley is again creeping into conversations due to the warm, dry fall of 2017. For many SJV growers who during the extended drought invested in improved groundwater wells and increased capacities, this mostly affects the degree to which they may have to rely on groundwater ... Read More »