According to Dr. Chris Main in the November Cotton Consultant’s Corner, “It’s been a wild, late crop that has presented cotton producers with many challenges.” With this in mind, a good number of cotton producers have been surprised that their cotton crops, for the most part, turned out to be “average” once the pickers rolled through the fields.
Following is a sampling of what our readers who participated in the Web Poll had to say on this subject:
• “In the South Plains of Texas, dryland cotton is nothing, and irrigated cotton is average.”
• “In the eastern Tennessee Valley, this crop has provided quite a bit of frustration. It seems like we threw Pix at this crop with all the rains we had between applications. We had lots of bolls to open here in mid-October, but, this is not 1967, and we have the benefit of ethephon. It’s been the wettest growing season that I’ve ever seen – going back to the mid 1960s.”
• “In northeast Arkansas, we had a late start on harvest this year, and the rain also will make for an expensive harvest because it lowers quality
and quantity.”
• “We started picking on Oct. 14. I was very surprised at the yield as we were picking around two bales per acre. I thought we had another 1967.” – North Alabama
• “Lack of rain until mid-September stunted our cotton.” – New Mexico
• “Cool summer weather and rain caused cotton to throw off. We’re also dealing with boll rot. In some areas of Georgia, the earlier cotton seems to be faring better.”
The results of the November Web Poll will be reported in the December issue of Cotton Farming.
Web Poll Results
Although this year’s cotton crop is considered “late” in many areas of the Belt, how would you rate your level of satisfaction with the 2013 crop as of harvest time? Please provide more specific details in the “Comments” section.
• Good to excellent – 32 %
• Average – 36 %
• Poor – 36 %
November Web Poll Question
In studying the available varieties for 2014, how many of the new offerings do you plan to incorporate into your production system based on what you know at this time?
(1) One
(2) Two
(3) Several
Register your vote at www.cottonfarming.com