Our area had a large increase in cotton acres in 2013 due to favorable prices and interest in crop rotation. Many farmers in the area have been talking about their crops and I am hearing reports ranging from about 1.25 to slightly above 2.0 bales per acre. One bale is 500 lbs of ginned cotton. Jamie Driggers from …
Continue reading ‘Farmers Report Good Cotton Yields (Video)’ »
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: …
Please Join Us: Agronomic Row Crops Field Day Suwannee Valley Agricultural Extension Center 8202 CR 417, Live Oak, FL 32060 Tuesday, July 30th, 2013 Registration 5:00 pm, Visit with Industry Sponsors Dinner 5:45 pm Field Tour 6:30—8:30 pm Field Tour Topics Slow release fertilizer trials on field corn, Mace Bauer Weed Control …
Continue reading ‘Agronomic Row Crops Field Day July 30th’ »
I have shared some of the observations and activities from area cotton fields in posts this week. The USDA estimates Florida cotton acreage is up 16% from 108,000 acres in 2012 to 125,000 in 2013. The Suwannee Valley area has probably increased from less than 1,000 acres in 2012 to over 5,000 in 2013. Our farmers have rose …
For many of our cotton farmers this is their first year to grow cotton. We have struggled with the challenges of managing Palmer amaranth as they have throughout the cotton belt. Some of this is resistant to herbicides and some is not resistant. We also have a variety of late season weeds and even some like nutsedge …
We have a really good cotton crop on our hands in this area, primarily a result of timely planting, good stands, and sufficient rainfall. The challenge with cotton isn’t typically making the squares, and later bolls, but keeping them. Fortunately, we don’t have the pest pressure that I hear about in the Mid-south and the …
I don’t think there is anyone in this industry that would disagree the use of Plant Growth Regulator (PGR) in cotton is more of an art than a science. Because cotton growth is such a complex interaction of variety, rainfall, temperature, soil fertility, boll load, etc there is no right recommendation for every situation. I’ve seen this …
We have been blessed with rainfall this spring throughout North Florida, and it has ensured excellent stands in our planted crops and kept our crops free from moisture stress. In most cases the amount of rainfall hasn’t overwhelmed our sandy soils, but has certainly created some inconveniences. It has also created a few challenges in …
Continue reading ‘Cotton Week: Rainfall Leaching Plant Nutrients’ »
We have been aggressively fighting Palmer amaranth (pigweed) in the cotton fields of Columbia County. Most of our farmers are planting varieties tolerant to Liberty herbicide, which is no silver bullet, but has at least been a crutch. Our recent efforts have been to apply glyphosate + metolachlor where pigweeds haven’t emerged, and Liberty + metolachlor where we …
Continue reading ‘Palmer Amaranth Control a Challenge in Cotton (Part 1)’ »
While we appear to be winning the battle. I can see we are missing weeds with multiple methods of control, and we need better control to win the war in the long term. One thing I will say, I wish we had some straw or residue on these fields to shade the soil and prevent emergence …
Continue reading ‘Palmer Amaranth a Challenge in Cotton (Part 2)’ »