Area farmers recently gathered in Wellborn and Ft. White, Florida to discuss The Why, When, and How of Cotton Defoliation. Many of our mid-April planted fields are at 70-80% open bolls, and later planted fields are rapidly approaching that point. We recently spent time to discuss several techniques for timing of defoliation including the following: Percent Open Boll, It is generally safe to defoliate at 60% open bolls; Nodes Above Cracked Boll, generally cotton with 4 or less nodes above cracked first position bolls; Or Sharp Knife Technique, where the uppermost harvestable boll has fully developed cotyledons and seed coats inside. Complete information is available in the attached document: Cotton Defoliation and Harvest Aids, 2009

I took a ride with some local farmers as they were applying defoliants and boll openers to their crop. Please join us as we spray a defoliant and boll opener. Please don’t try this at home. The filmmakers were trained and properly equipped with PPE for this production.