north carolina

The North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services conducted a cotton seed testing pilot program during the 2020 planting season. The sampling was conducted by seed and fertilizer field staff with testing conducted in the North Carolina Seed Lab. The length of time to complete testing of cotton seed samples varied due to workload and COVID-19 response. Even with ... Read More »

• By Dominic Reisig • Should I treat this cotton for bollworm eggs, plant bugs or stink bugs? This is a question I have been getting a lot this year with all our delayed and late-planted cotton. Of course it’s not a one-size-fits-all answer, but here are a few scenarios to consider. 1) Delayed cotton with low yield potential Unfortunately ... Read More »

North Carolina State University’s cotton Extension specialists Guy Collins and Keith Edmisten have released two decision tools on the NC State Cotton Extension Portal to help growers maximize outcomes while minimizing agronomic risk. The first decision aid is the Cotton Variety Calculator. “We used to publish variety tables for growers, but they could only sort columns. We felt we could ... Read More »

• Dr. Charlie Cahoon Jr. and Wesley Everman • Unfortunately, last week’s rain proved too much for many cotton fields. For those pondering their replant options, here are some points to consider: 1. Regardless of replant crop, you must first deal with your existing cotton stand. This is best accomplished with paraquat applied prior to replanting while the existing cotton ... Read More »

• By Guy Collins and Keith Edmiston • There have been quite a few calls over the past few days from growers asking when they should consider switching to early maturing varieties. This is largely driven by the significant delays in planting during late April and the first two weeks of May (prolonged, unsuitably cool weather) and the likelihood of ... Read More »

• By Charlie Cahoon Jr. • According to the most recent Cotton Planting Conditions Forecast, planting conditions should improve by next Wednesday, May 13, 2020. For those itching to start earlier in the week, I hope you consider how marginal planting conditions can influence cotton response to preemergence herbicides. Cool, wet conditions can influence cotton tolerance to all residual herbicides. ... Read More »

• By Guy Collins • By now, most folks are aware of the seed quality issues that occurred during 2019, when a few lot numbers of a couple of varieties were planted in relatively good planting conditions, and poor stands resulted. This issue was magnified by dry weather later in the planting window and the use of some residual herbicides ... Read More »