Dial Up Cotton Yield Potential in 2023

Pam Caraway, Contributor

These days, the word sustainability is so often used at farm meetings that it's nearly a cliché. Couple sustainability with profit opportunity, however, and the conversation grows much more interesting. Economic sustainability gets closer to what cotton farmers -- and all farmers -- need: profitability.

"We're not doing sustainability for sustainability's sake," Cotton Inc.'s Ryan Kurtz told farmers at the Georgia Cotton Commission 16th Annual Meeting/University of Georgia (UGA) Cotton Production Workshop, in Tifton. "We're doing it to make you more profitable and your cotton more marketable."

Cotton Inc. leads on-farm sustainability research with a focus on environmental and economic gains. That economic aspect permeates land-grant research, as well, impacting recommendations for pest management and environmental stewardship. Here are four practical tips offered by UGA specialists to help cotton farmers safeguard profits.

1. Stop sneaky insect threats through scouting.

UGA entomologist Phillip Roberts sees farmers effectively managing stinkbugs, but he's concerned about corn earworm (CEW) and silverleaf whiteflies.

Corn earworms are developing resistance to pyrethroids and showing up in blooms -- the lowest point of trait expression, particularly in regions planted heavily to corn and in fields treated early for plant bugs. CEWs move from blooms to feed on squares and young bolls.

Whether it's your boots or those of a cotton consultant, make sure you have somebody checking your cotton, Roberts says. "I don't think we're going to have a problem with corn earworm in Bollgard 3 this year. I am a little concerned about Bollgard II."

Silverleaf whitefly pressure could be lower in areas that experienced freezing temperatures during the winter. However, Roberts notes, adults are more susceptible to freezing temperatures than immatures. To kill immatures, the temperature must be below 21°F for 57 hours or longer, he says.

2. Identify nematode pressure in your field.

Midseason offers the opportunity to look at underperforming areas in the field and determine whether nematode pressure is limiting crop performance. Then make a plan for controlling nematodes in 2024. UGA Extension pathologist Bob Kemerait encourages farmers to consider nematode-resistant varieties, which now offer protection from root knot and reniform nematodes. Fields with sting nematodes, which have a threshold of 1 per 100 cubic centimeters of soil, or those planted to varieties that aren't bred for nematode resistance need at least a nematicide seed treatment and likely will also benefit from in-furrow product applications.

Nematode management is complete when planting is done. "You've got one chance to fight nematodes," Kemerait explains. "Every bit of what you do for the entire season is impacted by what you did -- or didn't do -- to manage nematodes at planting."

3. Fine-tune nitrogen applications and irrigation timing.

More fertilizer and more water don't necessarily mean more yield, UGA crop physiologist John Snider says. "Nitrogen application rates higher than the recommendation just decrease gin turnout and don't affect yield, because the plant puts more energy into seed production, not fiber. Irrigating when it isn't absolutely needed by the crop increases vegetative growth and nutrient uptake but not yield, which also decreases water- and nitrogen-use efficiency," Snider notes when summarizing a multiyear study.

Cotton Inc. also is working to refine nitrogen recommendations. The goal, Cotton Inc.'s Kurtz says, is to "make sure you've got the right amount of fertilizer on the right acre."

4. Be judicious with plant growth regulator.

"Aggressive plant growth regulator application may have no effect on lint yield in some instances, because the plant simply produces larger seeds, and gin turnout declines. However, moderate or aggressive growth management positively affects reproductive growth and earliness at recommended or high nitrogen application rates for cultivars and/or fields where rank growth is commonly observed," Snider says.

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