Farm Director KC Sheperd caught up with the new OSU Cotton specialist Jenny Dudak to see what is going on in Oklahoma’s cotton fields.
Dudak maintains that irrigated cotton fields still look good, but Tillman County’s outlook is poor for the third year in a row.
About the Tillman County irrigation district, she said, “We had a good soil moisture profile starting off the year, and everything was looking pretty promising, then the rain shut off and we weren’t able to fill the lake to the levels that we needed, so we weren’t able to get any irrigation to that district this year.”
She added that pivots are running out of water in Jackson County, and it’s likely that some fields won’t be harvestable there and in some other areas. She said that spraying should begin around the end of September or early October, and harvest will begin a few weeks later.
Cotton farmers need to be thinking about harvest aids at this time. “If you are looking at drought-stressed cotton, those PPO harvest aids, such as Aim and Sharpen, are better options for you,” she said. “We do have an extension publication on the OSU website regarding harvesting drought-stressed cotton, and the steps to take for your harvest aids.”
She cautioned cotton farmers to make sure their cotton is either 60 to 70 percent opened or that the uppermost first position harvestable boll is four nodes above the uppermost first position cracked boll before spraying their cotton aids. “When I say most harvestable boll, that’s the boll, when you cut it open, the seeds are not jelly anymore. They have that black or dark brown seed coat around the outside,” she added.
She said that insects are no longer a concern once the bolls have hardened, but bollworms and stink bugs could be present on softer bolls. She cautioned against over-fertilizing fields before the harvest to allow the plants time to shut down, and that irrigation is cut off in a timely manner.
“When you are looking at harvest aids, you want to be sure you are looking at the forecasted temperatures as well,” she warned. “Defoliants work better when they are used in warm, sunny conditions. Another thing to think about as far as use rates go is that you can increase your use rates according to the label, but I would not recommend going higher than what the label says because it can cause some leaf stick.”
According to Dudak, rainfall likely won’t improve the crop at this point as the plant has retained as much fruit as it will retain and is currently in the transition period of shutting down.