Oklahoma Cotton has faced some ups and downs over the years. Farm Director KC Sheperd caught up with NexGen Regional Manager Shane Osborne to discuss this year’s cotton crop.
The statewide cotton outlook is gauged off of dryland fields, and Osborne says that things look bleak across most of the state. Rains have fallen in areas along Interstate 40, from Erick to Oklahoma City, and that will produce the bulk of the dryland cotton for Oklahoma this year.
“It’s a pretty tough year,” he admitted. “There are not a lot of things going our way. We came into this year in pretty good fashion, but that’s kind of the story of cotton. What matters the most out in the field is the very end of the season. The plant doesn’t really fruit up heavily until August, and a lot of money rides on how August and early September treat us, and it was not very well at all this year.”
The season brought temperatures so high that irrigation couldn’t even keep up, and little to no rainfall to help. Oklahoma’s irrigation systems are only supplemental, so rainfall is still heavily depended upon in the state.
Shane also mentioned that the harvest is about 10% complete, with irrigated crops being harvested first. He expressed hope for some rainfall to help with cover crops and small grains for the next year, even though it might impact the cotton harvest negatively.
A cotton meeting was held in Elk City on October 16 where producers enjoyed a tour of various cotton varieties, some of which were available this year and others that are still in development.
“As depressed as the environment is, we had a very good turnout,” Osborne said. “We brought in a drone applicator outfit, who sells and services drones. That made it more interesting and added something else for the growers to look at.”
Of the newly released varieties, Bollgard 3 ThryvOn Xtendflex 4405, a medium-maturity variety, has proven to be more heat-tolerant. Bollgard 3 Xtendflex 5430, a longer-season variety, has also done well on dryland acres. Bollgard 3 Xtendflex 3457, an early maturing variety has done well on dryland but performed exceptionally well on irrigated acres.
“This is a good year to test heat tolerance. As bad as it is, it is really a great indicator of what we are seeing in our genetics,” Osborne commented.
He was excited about the above-mentioned varieties but said that improvements are continual. He said, “We are continuing to release varieties with both the B3XF trait and ThryvOn, so we have some great products coming in the next three to five years. If we could just get a little rainfall to go along with that, growers will begin to see that we are making a lot of progress.”
Going forward, NexGen is harvesting their surviving research plots to record the results. They also gather recaps from grower’s fields to compile data and share it with growers.
“We spend a lot of time in the field all year long,” he added. “But this time of year is special for us because of how important that data is for us. It’s going to keep us pretty busy, but we love doing that. It’s a big part of the reason we have had huge success. Meeting the grower where they are is what we are all about.”
For more information about NexGen Cotton, go to Americot.com to find a representative in your area.
