In the News - August 2009
Rainy spring, pigweed, plant bugs giving cotton farmers headaches
UNDATED - Late planted cotton needs an ideal September for maximum yield
during a season featuring pressure from stubborn pests including bollworms,
plant bugs and pigweed, said Tom Barber, extension cotton specialist with the
University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture.
Thanks to an abundance of spring rains, "we have a late crop, one of the
later ones in a while," he said. "The late crop needs a good September in order
to be a good crop."
Optimal planting dates for Arkansas are between April 20 and May 20, but this
year, "approximately 40 percent of our cotton was planted after the May 20th
window," Barber said.
A good September for the late crop would be a warm September, said Don
Plunkett, Jefferson County extension staff chairman for the division. "And I
think we’ll need a warm first half of October on many fields."
Cotton growers are resorting to an old technology to defeat a newly evolved
foe: herbicide resistant pigweed, also known by the more graceful name Palmer
amaranth.
"Many fields contained this problem weed and had to be hoed or hand-pulled by
chopping crews," Barber said.
"Hand hoeing is more common and is most limited by the lack of available
labor," said Ken Smith, extension weed scientist for the division. "I suspect
farmers will hand weed close to 100,000 acres in the state this year."
Insect pests have also made the 2009 growing season tough for cotton farmers.
Arkansas growers are seeing heavy pressure from plant bugs, especially in
later planted cotton. The tarnished plant bug has quickly risen to No .1 on the
cotton insect pest list since the eradication of the boll weevil. These insects
cause damage by feeding on squares, flowers, young bolls and tender plant
tissue.
"Insects such as bollworms and plant bugs have been tough this year,
especially plant bugs," Plunkett said. "We have had some resurgence of
populations within just days of applications of some insecticides.
"We are near the time of year when we would stop spraying for plant bugs, but
farmers don’t want to stop too soon and let them attack small, tender bolls," he
said.
Arkansas is the nation’s No. 3 cotton state. In 2008, Arkansas growers
harvested 615,000 acres for nearly 1,012 pounds of lint yield per acre compared
with the 813-pound national average, according to the National Agricultural
Statistics Service. NASS said on Monday that 9 percent of the crop had open
bolls, slightly ahead of last year’s rate, but behind the 10 percent five-year
average.
The Cooperative Extension Service is part of the University of Arkansas
Division of Agriculture and offers its programs to all eligible persons
regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, gender, age, disability,
marital or veteran status, or any other legally protected status, and is an
Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
August 27, 2009
Media Contact: Mary Hightower
Extension Communications Specialist
U of A Division of Agriculture
Cooperative Extension Service
(501) 671-2126
mhightower@uaex.edu
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