Writer: Tim W. McAlavy, (806) 746-4051, t-mcalavy@tamu.edu
Contact: Calvin Trostle, (806) 746-6101, c-trostle@tamu.edu
LUBBOCK – Many South Plains farmers had to plant an alternate crop this year after losing some of their cotton acreage to severe weather in late May and early June. Some of those producers banked on guar, a drought-tolerant annual legume introduced from India in 1903.
“Guar definitely made inroads as an alternate crop on the South Plains this year,” said Calvin Trostle, Texas Agricultural Extension Service agronomist. “As of Sept. 20, farmers in at least eight counties had about 21,000 acres of this crop. In India, guar is grown as a vegetable, as cattle feed and as a soil-enriching green manure crop.”
South Texas farmers started growing guar in the 1950s, but today most production is centered on some 100,000 acres of sandy soils on the Texas Rolling Plains and in southwestern Oklahoma.
“Guar seed from those areas goes to a processing plant in Vernon – the only one in the United States – where guar gum is processed into friction-reducing agents for food and industrial applications ranging from ice cream to ‘frac’ gels in oilfield drilling mud,” the agronomist added.
Most South Plains farmers are learning guar production as they go along. Aside from newer varieties such as “Kenmin” and “Esser,” recommended growing practices haven’t changed much since the state Extension Service published Keys to Profitable Guar Production in 1977, he added. Dr. John Sij, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station agronomist based in Vernon, is evaluating guar in variety trials near Lockett, Texas.
“Guar is a good dryland and limited-irrigation crop. During the drought of 1998, one field near Brownfield produced almost 1,000 pounds of seed per acre on just four combined inches of rainfall and irrigation water,” Trostle said. “About half of our 21,000 contract acres planted this year was sown as a catch crop for hailed out cotton. We expect typical yields between 800 and 1,400 pounds per acre in dryland and limited-irrigation fields.”
Brownfield producer Klint Forbes grows guar because it is a low-input, low-cost crop that doesn’t require a lot of attention.
“Guar is a legume that fits in well as a rotation crop,” he said. “It doesn’t require much fertilizer, but it’s important to start with high-quality seed – seed that is free of weed seed such as morning-glory.”
Trostle said producers should delay planting guar until soil temperatures reach 70 degrees. Ideal planting dates on the South Plains range from about May 20 to July 5. Guar seed is about the same size as grain sorghum seed, so a planter equipped with grain sorghum planting plates fits the bill nicely, he added.
Forbes said there are few insect and disease problems with this crop on the South Plains. Weed control, however, is another matter.
“There are very few herbicides labeled for guar. Our only herbicide options this year were the trifluralins and Roundup,” he said.
The main difficulty in growing guar is harvesting seed pods that are often set low – within two inches of the ground – on the plant’s main stem or bottom branches. Trostle recommends planting on raised beds to increase harvestable yield after plants are killed with harvest-aid chemicals or by a killing frost.
“Most producers planted guar on 40-inch rows this year,” the agronomist said. “Using narrower row spacings and slightly higher plant populations may encourage more upright growth and higher pod set on the plants.”
But what kind of dollar return can a producer expect from guar?
South Plains producers expect to net about 15 cents per pound this year, after paying trucking costs to the Vernon processing plant.
“Guar seed is graded according to quality, but 100 percent of what we produced in 1998 was graded No. 1 (top grade),” Forbes said.
Producers who want more information on guar should contact Trostle at 806-746-6101, or their local county Extension office. Forbes (806) 893-6680 and Wes Campbell in Floydada (806) 983-3073 can provide information on contracting guar acreage next year, Trostle said.
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