Harvest

The National Agricultural Statistics Service October Crop Production report estimated Arkansas cotton production to be at 1,088 pounds lint per acre, unchanged from last month but down 4 pounds from 2015. This exceeds our 5-year average of 1,073 pounds lint per acre by 15 pounds. Our crop continues to be ahead of schedule. As about half of our crop has been harvested this season, the 5-year average for the same date was just shy of 30 percent harvested. Reports of fiber quality have been good. Lack of rainfall during much of the harvest season has resulted in excellent color grades. Just over 45 percent has received a color grade of 31 or better. About 80 percent of the bales classed have a leaf grade of 4 or less. Micronaire values this season have averaged 4.6 with less than 17 percent in the discount range of 5 or greater. In Arkansas, we generally expect to see our early crop outyield our later crop. This is not what most farmers are experiencing this season. The extended wet and cloudy August weather came just as our early crop was starting to open. Reports of 1.25 to 1.5 bales per acre were heard from our early cotton as the occurrence of boll rot and hard lock was great. Fortunately, yields improved as harvest progressed. Our good fields are yielding in excess of 3 bales per acre. The 4-bale yield potential we had in many fields the first part of August slipped away.

The National Agricultural Statistics Service October Crop Production report estimated Arkansas cotton production to be at 1,088 pounds lint per acre, unchanged from last month but down 4 pounds from 2015. This exceeds our 5-year average of 1,073 pounds lint per acre by 15 pounds. Our crop continues to be ahead of schedule. As about half of our crop has been harvested this season, the 5-year average for the same date was just shy of 30 percent harvested. Reports of fiber quality have been good. Lack of rainfall during much of the harvest season has resulted in excellent color grades. Just over 45 percent has received a color grade of 31 or better. About 80 percent of the bales classed have a leaf grade of 4 or less. Micronaire values this season have averaged 4.6 with less than 17 percent in the discount range of 5 or greater. In Arkansas, we generally expect to see our early crop outyield our later crop. This is not what most farmers are experiencing this season. The extended wet and cloudy August weather came just as our early crop was starting to open. Reports of 1.25 to 1.5 bales per acre were heard from our early cotton as the occurrence of boll rot and hard lock was great. Fortunately, yields improved as harvest progressed. Our good fields are yielding in excess of 3 bales per acre. The 4-bale yield potential we had in many fields the first part of August slipped away.

The National Agricultural Statistics Service October Crop Production report estimated Arkansas cotton production to be at 1,088 pounds lint per acre, unchanged from last month but down 4 pounds from 2015. This exceeds our 5-year average of 1,073 pounds lint per acre by 15 pounds. Our crop continues to be ahead of schedule. As about half of our crop has been harvested this season, the 5-year average for the same date was just shy of 30 percent harvested. Reports of fiber quality have been good. Lack of rainfall during much of the harvest season has resulted in excellent color grades. Just over 45 percent has received a color grade of 31 or better. About 80 percent of the bales classed have a leaf grade of 4 or less. Micronaire values this season have averaged 4.6 with less than 17 percent in the discount range of 5 or greater. In Arkansas, we generally expect to see our early crop outyield our later crop. This is not what most farmers are experiencing this season. The extended wet and cloudy August weather came just as our early crop was starting to open. Reports of 1.25 to 1.5 bales per acre were heard from our early cotton as the occurrence of boll rot and hard lock was great. Fortunately, yields improved as harvest progressed. Our good fields are yielding in excess of 3 bales per acre. The 4-bale yield potential we had in many fields the first part of August slipped away.

ARKANSAS A great deal of uncertainty still exists regarding the 2016 crop. We look forward to seeing how the modules stack up. During the first week of August, almost everyone in the field felt we had the potential for a...

ARKANSAS The National Agricultural Statistics Service August Crop Production report projects Arkansas producers will harvest 1,052 pounds lint per acre. The August estimate last year projected a record-high yield of 1,226 pounds lint per acre, surpassing the previous record set...

By Carroll Smith Editor Matt and Sherrie Miles come from multi-generational Arkansas cotton families. Although cotton is in their blood, they farmed only 180 acres last year. In 2016, they embraced the crop once again by planting 3,300 acres. “Cotton...

Hands-on operators continue the family legacy. By Carroll Smith Editor Ginger and Sharion Croom spent a portion of their childhood growing up in a small white farmhouse that stands about 100 feet from the shop at L&G Farms in Southeast Missouri. After...

Download the Application (pdf) Jamey Duesterhaus Exceeds SDI ‘Rule Of Thumb’ In the world of subsurface drip irrigation, the “rule of thumb,” on average, is that a cotton farmer can make 4 bales of lint per acre with 4 GPM per acre...

When I look back on my childhood, it always seems that cotton was king of my memories. My family grew wheat, grain and cotton, but, for some reason, cotton holds the most memories for me. Grain harvest was always...

By Carroll Smith Editor In 1949, U.S. President Harry S. Truman was inaugurated for his second term, world heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis retired, and Doc Kirby, B.H. Bass Jr. and Duff Holcomb – three men from the Mississippi Delta –...

Cotton and quail reflect the Southern traditions of this southwest Georgia operation By Carroll Smith, Editor When he was 18 years old, Larron Copeland purchased 30 acres from his father and began shaping what is now known as Showtime Farms in...

By Jim Melvin, Clemson University Just days before the majority of South Carolina’s cotton was about to be harvested, the historic October 2015 storm drenched most of the state with trillions of gallons of rainwater, ravaging a crop that had...

MISSOURI Missouri producers made it through the 2015 season with near record yields, so there is a lot to be thankful for. Although we didn’t have optimum climatic conditions, we were fortunate to have had had an overall favorable growing...

ARIZONA There are many decisions made by a grower over the course of a cotton-growing season, but few have as significant and lasting impact on the final outcome of the crop than variety selection. This is a decision that will...

By Carroll Smith Editor The red brick building that stands at 221 North Main St. in Como, Miss., has housed the Taylor family’s business since 1900. What was once a bustling general store with an office tucked in the back is...