Writer: Tim W. McAlavy, (806) 746-4051,t-mcalavy@tamu.edu
LUBBOCK — Hail damage and saturated soils have put a dent in this year’s young South Plains cotton crop, leaving many farmers wondering if their damaged crop will recover or whether they should replant to an alternate crop. The chips could fall either way, according to Texas Agricultural Extension Service crop specialists.
According to planting estimates compiled by county Extension agents, farmers had planted 80 percent to 85 percent of this year’s South Plains cotton crop by May 28. Before the planting window opened in late April, farmers estimated their total regional planting intentions at about 3.7 million acres — 200,000 to 300,000 more acres than usual.
“Our crop has been damaged by several different storms since the week of May 24,” said Randy Boman, Extension cotton agronomist based at Texas A&M University’s Agricultural Research and Extension Center here.
“Farmers in Hale, Swisher, Lamb, Floyd, Hockley, Lubbock and Crosby counties were hardest hit. Some of those producers were able to replant their acreage before the final crop insurance planting date, but others weren’t as lucky. According to our latest county agent survey, we’ve lost more than 463,000 acres of cotton.
“The severity of damage varies from field to field. Some fields were completely wiped out, while others have only spotty damage. A lot of cotton that was planted in the furrow simply couldn’t emerge because the storms pushed too much soil on top of the planted row — leaving the seed too deep in the soil.”
Many fields north and west of Lubbock have been “taken out” or affected by another type of environmental injury. Plants in these fields have dry, purple lesions which turn tan or brown. In some cases, young delicate foliage turns black, Boman said.
“Plants in most fields have clean, healthy roots and are in the 3- to 6-leaf growth stage. We are seeing some Rhizoctonia and black root rot, but that isn’t the cause of the damage. This is mechanical damage to stems, leaves and cotyledon petioles that collapses the vascular tissue and kills a large portion of leaf tissue,” Boman said. “Smaller, less vigorous plants are the first to die. This damage is affecting fields with no sign of severe hail damage, and fields where cover crops or other plants provide protection from wind and blowing sand.”
Texas A&M plant pathologist Terry Wheeler said there is no sign of the bacteria that causes wet weather blight, or the fungal Ascochyta blight, in affected plants. During the days between storms, farmers have kept busy assessing their losses and cultivating fields to keep the soil from blowing and causing more damage.
Cool weather has also reduced the crop’s normal heat unit accumulation (number of open, sunny days) to almost 75 percent of normal — further aggravating the problem, the agronomist said.
“Farmers who want to get a better handle on the damage can collect plant samples, place them in ziplock bags and drop them off at county Extension offices or here at the Lubbock center for analysis,” Boman said. “Those who are wandering about replanting should read Making Replant Decisions, Effects of Stand Loss and Skips on Cotton Yields, and Cotton Variety Considerations Under Replant Conditions. These publications are available at county Extension offices or on the Internet (http://aggiecotton.tamu.edu).
“Farmers should evaluate the plant density in damaged fields before deciding to zero-out those acres. If you’ve still got a stand of at least 1+ healthy plants per foot of row, you should consider sticking with the crop. Given good growing conditions, it could still make acceptable yields. If you decide to zero it out, be sure and double check your replanting options — so you will remain in compliance with farm program regulations.”
Farmers with failed cotton acres still have time to plant grain sorghum, soybeans or sunflowers as a catch crop, said Calvin Trostle, Extension agronomist based at the Lubbock center.
“First, check the label of any cotton herbicide you’ve already applied. The label will list any crop rotation restrictions that might affect your replanting options. Cotton herbicides such as Treflan, Prowl, Caparol, Cotoran and Karmex can cause carryover herbicide injury to some crops,” Trostle said. “One option in that scenario is to set the planter to break-out and remove the herbicide-treated soil, so the new seed is planted in untreated soil.
“That’s especially true if you’ll be planting grain sorghum after failed cotton. You’ll also want to keep the herbicide-treated soil away from new plants while cultivating the new crop, for a while at least. If you applied Dual herbicide, you can plant safened grain sorghum seed and have little risk of plant injury.”
The cut-off date for planting medium-maturity grain sorghum hybrids falls between June 25 and July 4, while early maturity hybrids can be planted as late as July 15. Late-planted grain sorghum is more susceptible to insect damage, so it may require insecticide applications, the agronomist added.
“We can plant soybeans as late as July 10 and still expect to make a crop, even though later planting reduces yield potential,” Trostle said. “Farmers should plant early to mid-maturity group IV soybeans before June 25, and then switch to an early group IV or late-maturity group III variety for later planting,” he continued.
“Later planting retards stalk growth and can make it hard to harvest the lowest seed pods, but using a higher seeding rate and narrow rows may encourage higher pod-set.”
Sunflowers are another option. Oilseed sunflower contracts, including the newer mid-oleic oilseeds which offer a small price premium, are readily available to South Plains farmers, he added.
“Farmers in the Plainview area can plant mid- to mid-late (105- to 110-day) varieties into mid June, and shorter-season (85 to 90-day) varieties up to July 10-15. In the Lamesa area, farmers can plant mid- to mid-late sunflowers until June 25, and short-season varieties as late as July 15-20,” he said. “Oilseed sunflowers are cheaper to produce than confectionary sunflowers, and a later planting date can reduce the need to treat for head moths.”
Farmers can get more information on sunflower contracts from Northern Sun in Goodland, Kan., (800-542-7333), Trostle said.
Black-eyed peas are another option if producers can overcome low market prices, and limited seed and contract availability, said South Plains Extension horticulturist Roland Roberts.
“You should have a contract lined up first, or access to storage so you can market your product at a later time at a higher price,” Roberts said. “Peas are a good soil-builder if properly inoculated, and they are compatible with cotton herbicides such as Treflan.”
Farmers can learn more about alternate crop options for failed cotton acres in the latest editions of the Focus on Entomology newsletter — available at http://lubbock.tamu.edu/ipm/AgWeb/newsletters/focus/focus.html.
Producers can get estimated crop production budgets for several alternate crops from their county Extension agent or from Extension economist Jackie Smith at the Lubbock center (806) 746-6101.
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