COTTON HARVEST AID FIELD DAY

You are invited to come out to the 2000 Southern Blacklands Cotton Harvest Aid Field Day. The field day is set for Monday, July 31, beginning at 8:30am at the SPJST Hall in Taylor. The field day will begin at the SPJST Hall where opening introductions will be made and refreshments will be on hand. Then we will travel just a couple of miles to the site where the cotton harvest aid trials are located where Dr. Robert Lemon, Cotton Specialist, TAEX, will be on hand along with industry representatives to discuss the performance of the various treatments. The program will be informative and to the point.

Arnie and Larry Safarik are the cooperators on this 18 treatment cotton harvest aid trial. The plots were established on July 24 and are 4 rows in width and planted to DP 388 on March 27th.

COTTON HARVEST AID NOTES

Preparing cotton for harvest is not an exact science. Although there is much information on how and when to apply harvest aid chemicals, producers recognize that seasonal and crop conditions affect crop responses to harvest aid treatments in ways that are unpredictable.

Near normal moisture conditions in 2000 have set the stage for an average cotton crop yield across the Southern Blacklands. In general, the crop is short statured and should be relatively easy to prepare for harvest giving the current moisture situation. However, that can change quickly.

Individuals whose strategy is to use products that provide regrowth suppression, can use the defoliants Dropp and/or Ginstar. Specifically, Dropp @ 0.1 lb/ac plus Ginstar @ 7 oz/ac applied at 80% open boll has been a once over treatment for growers and has provided real good regrowth suppression over the past two seasons. In addition, Roundup(1 pint/acre) can be applied to cotton either as a separate treatment about 1 week before defoliation or in a tank mix with a defoliant which provides excellent regrowth suppression.

Most growers and consultants are opting for the tank mix treatments which will save a trip across the field. However, keep in mind that Roundup is only effective on conventional cotton; the product will not suppress regrowth in Roundup Ready Cotton. Also, Roundup only suppresses regrowth, it does not control existing regrowth.

COTTON STALK DESTRUCTION

Some may think it is to early to begin talking about cotton stalk destruction, but stalk destruction is a very important part of any cotton production system that is sometimes overlooked. With the relatively earliness of this years cotton crop across the area, growers have an opportunity to put a big dent into next years potential boll weevil population by taking care of cotton stalks as soon as possible after harvest. If everyone chooses to make stalk destruction a priority and as a result, there is no squaring cotton left in the fields after mid-August, the area could be set up with a scenario next spring like that of the spring of 1999 when weevil populations were extremely low following the drought of 1998. Whatever you do, DO NOT ALLOW YOUR COTTON TO BEGIN SQUARING AGAIN AFTER THE CROP HAS BEEN HARVESTED.