Farm Director, KC Sheperd, is talking with Entomology and Plant Pathology Assistant Extension Specialist at Oklahoma State University, Maxwell Smith, about recent OSU Field Days and the cotton and peanut crops around the state.
Originally from the Altus area, Smith is now back living in Altus, serving producers with pest management needs and more. Cotton is his focus crop, he added, but he works with other crops as well.
At the Panhandle Crops and Forages Field Day held in Eva, Oklahoma, Smith said the area has received good rainfall since spring, which delayed planting. In some parts of the panhandle, Smith said, cotton crops were hailed out.
“With the increased rainfall, they have got some really good-looking sorghum and corn up in that area, and I saw some really good-looking cotton as I went up through there, too,” Smith said. “A lot of good-looking crops due to the high rainfall throughout this season compared to the last two years up there.”
The Peanut and Cotton Field Day took place last week in Ft. Cobb, and Smith was able to give an update on what he saw at the event. The Ft. Cobb area was faced with similar hail storm issues as the panhandle, Smith added.
“The hail storms took out quite a bit of cotton up through that area, but what is still around as far as cotton does look pretty good, and as far as peanuts go, all the peanuts I saw still look pretty good too,” Smith said. “Not the same time of rainfall we see every year, but they caught a few more rains up there than we have down here in the southwest, and they have good irrigation potential up there.”
Along I-40 and in Tillman County, Smith said, are the best spots in the state for cotton at the moment. For this year’s cotton crops, Smith said the rains came a little too late.
“We are not going to gain any more blooms or bolls set on those plants this late in the year, but it will kind of give the crop that already has bolls set a little bit more ability to help finish out those bolls, mature them, and help us out a little bit with what we already had,” Smith said.
Cotton harvest, Smith said, will probably take place around mid to late October.
Switching gears to the peanut crop in Oklahoma, Smith said there are about 16,000 acres of peanuts in the state.
“The potential looks pretty good this year,” Smith said. “I think, obviously, better than last year just due to more rainfall. I think there is going to be some fields that really have some good yields here in a couple of weeks.”
