Irrigation and Equipment

Monsanto Co. And Deltapine Cotton Donate Funds To Assist Texas Farmers And Ranchers To support the recovery efforts of Texas farmers and ranchers affected by the destruction and flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey, Monsanto Co. and Deltapine Cotton recently donated $200,000...

The Beltwide Cotton Conferences (BWCC), set for Jan. 3-5 at the Marriott Rivercenter in San Antonio, Texas, will provide insight into current research and emerging technology to help attendees improve production, processing and marketing efficiency. The BWCC, coordinated by the...

ARKANSAS The National Agricultural Statistics Service October Crop Production Report estimated Arkansas cotton production at 1 million bales, unchanged from the September forecast but 160,000 bales more than last year. Yield is expected to average 1,096 pounds per harvested acre,...

The Alabama Cooperative Extension System is working with Auburn University’s Department of Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences to bring Alabama farmers the Row Crops Short Course. It will be held at the Auburn University Hotel and Dixon Conference Center...

ARIZONA Harvest season is upon us. As pickers enter the field, questions related to heat stress effects begin to be answered. Several consecutive days of heat stress during late June and mid-July had a significant impact on boll retention and...

Water regulations, including sustainable groundwater act, make uncertainty the norm for California growers By Vicky Boyd Managing Editor During the six-year California drought that ended earlier this year, Travis Fugitt watched as the standing water level in his wells dropped to about 250...

California water supply unpredictability complicates producers’ short- and long-term planning. By Vicky Boyd Managing Editor California received near-record rains and snow this past winter, filling reservoirs to the brim and prompting irrigation districts to allocate full water supplies. But cotton producers say the...

ARIZONA As the cotton-growing season winds down and final irrigations have been made, we begin to look at decisions for harvest preparation and harvest aids application. There are two main components of this decision, and each can be influenced by...

  ARIZONA In my travels around the state over recent weeks, I have observed cotton fields at all stages of development. The crop in western Arizona has now been terminated and is being prepped for harvest. The remainder of the state...

If local information from crop consultants or Extension agents is unavailable and a Western cotton producer needs quick access to crop information, there are a number of online resources available to help them explore late-season production options. For agronomic, irrigation,...

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.

ARIZONA Deciding on the appropriate time to begin planting cotton in the spring can be a difficult decision. Warm, early spring days will sometimes provide an “itch” to get into the field and start planting. However, warm spring days can...

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.

Monitoring soil moisture and scheduling irrigation doesn’t have to be complicated to be effective, as one Texas High Plains grower finds. By Vicky Boyd Managing Editor When it comes to soil moisture monitoring, David Carter of Levelland, Texas, likes to keep...

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.