Cotton farming june 2017

Cotton Farming ONE GROWER PUBLISHING, LLC

PROFITABLE PRODUCTION STRATEGIES

JUNE 2017

www.cottonfarming.com

TAKING AIM Researchers Set Their Sights On Target Spot Control

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Vol. 61 No. 6

Cotton Farming PROFITABLE PRODUCTION STRATEGIES

JUNE 2017

www.cottonfarming.com

F E AT U R E S

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Drs. Peter Ellsworth and Peter Goodell discuss monitoring cotton pest thresholds for keeping insect pressure in check out West.

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BE ON THE LOOKOUT

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PERDUE ADDRESSES GFB

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EXPORTS AND PRICES RISE

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GINNERS MARKETPLACE

Taking Aim

Until recently, some researchers didn’t even consider target spot a disease of economic importance. Now that there’s agreement that the fungal disease does cause economic losses, industry experts can focus on trying to find ways to control it. And because of differences in environmental and cultural conditions, what works in the Southeast may not work in the Delta.

PEST THRESHOLDS

Entomologists from South Carolina, Mississippi and Texas offer an early outlook for potentially damaging cotton insect pests.

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue spoke to Georgia Farm Bureau members recently about important issues facing American farmers.

Dr. John Robinson, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service cotton marketing economist, says high-quality cotton is making a big splash in today’s market environment.

the official publication of the ginning industry

Kelley Green, director of technical services for the Texas Cotton Ginners’ Association, gives an update on OSHA and Wage and Hour inspections under the new administration.

DEPARTMENTS & COLUMNS

4 Editor’s Note 5 Cotton’s Agenda 6 Western Report

12 Industry News 16 Specialists Speaking 22 My Turn

WEB EXCLUSIVE Several deserving individuals received “cotton kudos” over the past several months. Among them are Texas A&M’s Dr. David Stelley and Sam Angel with Epstein Gin Company in Lake Village, Ark. Go to www.cottonfarming.com to read more about these award winners and others who have been recognized by the industry in this Web Exclusive report.

ON THE COVER: Researchers say they are beginning to get a better handle on target spot in cotton. Photo courtesy LSU AgCenter; illustration by Ashley Kumpe.

COTTON FARMING (ISSN 0746-8385) is published monthly January through December by One Grower Publishing LLC, 6515 Goodman Rd., Box 360, Olive Branch, MS 38654. Periodicals postage paid at Memphis, Tenn. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Omeda Communications, Customer Service Department, P.O. Box 1388, Northbrook, IL 60065-1388 (Phone: 847-559-7578) (Fax: 847-564-9453). Annual subscriptions are $40. International rates are $55 in Canada/Mexico, $90 in all other countries for air-speeded delivery. Surface delivery not available due to problems in reliability.

Twitter: @CottonFarming

JUNE 2017 COTTON FARMING

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Editor’s Note

Cotton Farming

Carroll Smith

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EDITORIAL/PRODUCTION Editor Carroll Smith csmith@onegrower.com Managing Editor Vicky Boyd vlboyd@onegrower.com

Bad Bugs Of Summer

A

fter reading Alabama entomologist Ron Smith’s My Turn column, “Picking On The Terrace Row,” on page 22, I began to think about my own memories associated with cotton insects, the devastation they can cause and some of the methods associated with their control.

As a child growing up in east-central Louisiana, I remember cotton fields lining every road leading into the small town in which I lived. In fact, one was right across the street that ran in front of the elementary school. In May, during recess, some of my friends and I would lie on the incline of a grassy ditch bank on the edge of campus and watch the crop duster as it circled the field. The plane lined up on the flagmen and then flew in low to spray the tops of the young cotton plants with a cloud of insecticide.

I also remember singing Brook Benton’s version of “The Boll Weevil Song,” which rocketed up the charts in the summer of 1961. Years later, when the Boll Weevil Eradication Program was in full swing, bright, florescent yellow-green pheromone traps were set alongside cotton fields to lure this destructive pest into the trap’s collection chamber. The boll weevil was finally completely eradicated except for some cotton-growing areas of South Texas next to the Mexican border, marking a sea change in U.S. cotton production.

And those of us who were working in the cotton industry in the early 1990s will never forget the horrific fall armyworm infestation that occurred in Alabama. The numbers were legendary. Hoards of these pests literally marched across rural roads, leaving behind a devastated cotton field on their way to attack a healthy one. Row after row of completely stripped cotton plants that looked like bouquets of thin sticks were hard to comprehend.

And out West, aphids and whiteflies plague cotton farmers by secreting honeydew onto cotton, which literally “gums up the works” at spinning mills and negatively affects cotton sales and prices. Even today, those who farm in areas where these pests are present have to constantly monitor their crops and control these pests to avoid being left with “sticky cotton” at the end of the season.

When it comes to destructive cotton arthropods, I really can’t think of anything nice to say. What is encouraging are the great strides that have been made in risk-assessment technology, cultural practices and control products. And hats off to our research and Extension entomologists, crop consultants and industry personnel who steadfastly refuse to give up the battle against the bad bugs of summer.

Carroll If you have comments, please send them to: Cotton Farming Magazine, 7201 Eastern Ave., Germantown, TN, 38138. Contact Carroll Smith via email at csmith@onegrower.com.

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COTTON FARMING JUNE 2017

Southeast Editor Amanda Huber ahuber@onegrower.com Art Director Ashley Kumpe ADMINISTRATION Publisher/Vice President Lia Guthrie (901) 497-3689 lguthrie@onegrower.com Associate Publisher Carroll Smith (901) 326-4443 Sales Manager Scott Emerson (386) 462-1532 semerson@onegrower.com Production Manager Kathy Killingsworth (901) 767-4020 kkillingsworth@onegrower.com Circulation Manager Charlie Beek (847) 559-7324 For circulation changes or change of address, call (847) 559-7578 EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD David Burns – North Carolina David Lynch – South Carolina Bob McLendon – Georgia Larkin Martin – Alabama Mike Sturdivant Jr. – Mississippi Charles Parker – Missouri Jimmy Hargett – Tennessee Allen Helms – Arkansas Jay Hardwick – Louisiana Ronnie Hopper – Texas Ron Rayner – Arizona John Pucheu – California

ONE GROWER PUBLISHING, LLC Mike Lamensdorf President/Treasurer Lia Guthrie Publisher/Vice President ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COOPERATION: Cooperating with COTTON FARMING are various cotton producer organizations across the Cotton Belt. Many representatives of producer organizations serve on COTTON FARMING’s editorial advisory board. Opinions expressed and conclusions reached by contributors are not necessarily those of the cooperating organizations or the editors.

All statements, including product claims, are those of the person or organization making the statement or claim. The publisher does not adopt any such statement or claims as its own and any such statement or claim does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the publisher.

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COTTONFARMING.COM

Cotton’s Agenda Gary Adams

Neonics Not The Cause The National Cotton Council is encouraged by some recent articles in which bee experts are saying that pesticides, including neonicotinoids, are not a primary cause for bee health decline.

What are these scientists saying?

n In spite of the perception that pesticides are the cause for honeybee and native bee decline, T’ai Roulston, a bumblebee expert at the University of Virginia, disagrees. He states in the Genetic Literacy Project’s (GLP) newsletter that a fungal gut parasite is the most important factor in the rusty patched bumblebee’s decline.

In the article at http://bit.ly/2oJJnJa, the professor says this bumblebee species (recently declared endangered) and related species have been in sharp decline since the 1990s before the widespread use of neonicotinoids (neonics).

tests that have exposed wild bees to neonic seed-treated canola crops have shown no adverse effects. A study from Germany and one from the United States also have demonstrated that residues in the nectar and pollen of neonic-treated crops and nearby vegetation are below a level of concern.

Another GLP newsletter article said the European Commission found the European Union’s 2013 ban of certain neonic uses “has had no benefit at all for bees” and “has been disastrously counterproductive.” The article pointed to a study that showed since the neonics ban, British farmers have more than quadrupled insecticide application numbers on oil-seed rape, but pest pressure has increased.

University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture researchers found that honeybees’ overall health actually improved in the presence of agricultural production, despite the increased exposure to pesticides. Details from their study are in a Phys.org article at http://bit.ly/2p woDs5. Phys.org is a leading Web-based science, research and technology news service.

Has the NCC advocated for maintaining neonics?

A leading bee expert says a fungal gut parasite, not neonics, is the most important factor in the rusty patched bumblebee’s decline.

The article also quotes Sam Droege, a highly regarded U.S. Geological Survey wildlife biologist, who stated habitat loss is by far the greatest threat to wild bee species. Regarding neonics’ effects on wild bee populations, Droege says they are not intersecting with rare, conservation-concern bees because those pollinators are not going to be on ag lands. A 2015 study published in Nature Communications found, in fact, that those wild bees most often present in ag areas — and probably most exposed to neonics — are “common” and “dominant.” The article notes large-scale field

n Last year, the NCC successfully intervened in a lawsuit to protect the continued use of neonic seed treatments. We have explained to the court and to the Environmental Protection Agency that the loss of additional chemistries such as neonics will decrease mode of action rotation and encourage pest resistance development. We continue to work with the agency to find solutions that do not undermine production agriculture. We believe one potential method is developing state and tribal pollinator protection plans. These bring beekeepers and other stakeholders involved in on-farm plant protection chemical applications together with university experts and state lead agencies to identify local solutions that improve the coexistence of bees and crop protection.

Gary Adams is president/CEO of the National Cotton Council of America. He and other NCC leaders contribute columns on this Cotton Farming page.

Twitter: @CottonFarming

JUNE 2017 COTTON FARMING

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WESTERN REPORT

Pest Thresholds In Cotton

Innovations Reduce Treatments In the 1990s, producers saw the beginning of an invasion of a new whitefly, which devastated the Arizona crop. In 1996, insect growth regulators targeting whitefly were introduced along with a new IPM plan that included counting insect numbers and using stage-specific thresholds.

Around the same time, Bt cotton was reducing the need to spray broad-spectrum insecticides, helping to reduce treatments even more.

In 2006, an insect-specific Lygus feeding inhibitor was introduced that further reduced broad-spectrum chemical applications on cotton. All of these pest control innovations created a better cotton environment for natural predators and parasitoids that make the IPM plan more sustainable.

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COTTON FARMING JUNE 2017

Although both whitefly and Lygus treatments are effective, they must be applied at the correct time. Insect sampling and adherence to established pest thresholds for those two pests are paramount to making sure the timing is right for each application, and in many cases to determine if any application is needed.

“Sampling and proper use of thresholds works and creates greater certainty in management,” Ellsworth says. “Whitefly thresholds are based on samples of adults and nymphs on the fifth leaf below the cotton terminal. Lygus thresholds are based on field counts of adults and nymphs in cotton sweeps.”

BY BRENT MURPHREE MARICOPA, ARIZ.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE-ARS

M

onitoring cotton pest thresholds has proven to be one of the more successful tools for keeping insect pressures in check. In the West, established research-based thresholds aid in determining treatment of cotton pests. Adherence to those standards can be the difference between making or breaking the crop.

“These work in the majority of situations, provided producers stay within the guidelines,” says Dr. Peter Ellsworth, director of the Arizona Pest Management Center at the University of Arizona.

By determining how many pests are present, and their stage of development, treatments can be managed for optimum effect and cost. Over the past 21 years, integrated pest management (IPM) and the use of thresholds to determine insect pressure have saved the Arizona cotton industry more than $500 million, Ellsworth says. IPM also has prevented more than 21 million pounds of pesticide active ingredients from having been applied to the crop, thus reducing the environmental impact.

Use an integrated pest management plan to control whiteflies in the West.

He also notes in areas where there is a shorter production window outside of the West, there may be a call to incorporate the week of bloom or other crop development measures into threshold-based guidelines to better support Lygus treatment decisions.

California’s Treatment Approach In California, concerns for maintaining San Joaquin Valley quality has led the University of California to adapt the same pest control guidelines to its treatment approach, adjusting for cropping diversity.

“Application is critically important,” says Dr. Peter Goodell, Univer-

sity of California Cooperative Extension farm adviser. “When control is required, effective pest control is vital to IPM.” Goodell advises producers and crop advisers to visit fields frequently, establish good monitoring tools and manage them according to guidelines.

Following treatment guidelines is also important in California, as is selecting the best insecticide to fit the situation. Starting in mid-season, Lygus treatments can be anticipated, especially after wet winters.

“Choosing the most selective active ingredient will preserve natural enemies on which cotton growers depend for control of later-season insects, such as aphids, worms and whiteflies,” Goodell says. “Optimal treatment regimes have been established for many of the key pest insects, which is an underpinning of IPM. The goal is management of established pests, not eradication.”

More Information Resources Producers and crop advisers can find threshold guidelines by going to their Extension cotton specialists or visiting university websites.

Ellsworth and Goodell also have whitefly presentations on the Plant Management Network at these links: Goodell: http://www.plantmanagementnetwork.org/edcenter/seminars/ cotton/stickycotton/ Ellsworth: http://www.plantmanagementnetwork.org/edcenter/seminars/cotton/WhiteflyManagement/ More information on cotton pest issues can be obtained by going to CottonCultivated.CottonInc.com.

Brent Murphree is the Cotton Board’s Regional Communication Manager for the West. bmurphree@cottonboard.org.

COTTONFARMING.COM

Cotton Consultant’s Corner

Control Cotton Insects To Maximize Yields Larry Walton

Field Scientist, Dow AgroSciences Tupelo, Miss.

The 2017 cotton-growing season got off to a good start in most of the Mid-South region. Cotton farmers are optimistic about this year’s crop, based largely on December futures contracts average of 70 cents per pound, which is higher than 2016 levels. The optimism reflects an overall 10 percent increase in cotton acres throughout the Cotton Belt from 2016, thanks in large part to an ongoing reduction of China’s cotton stocks. The largest acreage increase is in Mississippi, where nearly 750,000 acres have been planted to cotton, a 27 percent increase from last year.

Production costs remain high, however, which is why it is important for cotton farmers to maximize yields to cover costs and realize a profit. To accomplish this, it is critical for growers to effectively manage yield-robbing insect pests like plant bugs.

Scout Early And Often

Growers need to be diligent in scouting for yield-robbing cotton pests. No one can predict plant bug pressure from one year to the next, but farmers can effectively prepare to manage this devastating pest with diligent and frequent scouting. Starting in early June and continuing through mid-July, farmers should be on the lookout for the presence of plant bugs. Cotton is most susceptible to plant bug injury during the early squaring period. Scouting is key, using sweep-net sampling and square retention monitoring prior to bloom to determine the level of plant bug infestation. Later in the season, a drop cloth or visual sampling is more commonly done because these techniques are better at detecting nymphs.

The most common damage resulting from plant bug feeding includes shedding of squares and small bolls during fruiting season. Cotton yield losses can be more than 50 percent of the yield potential if plant bug presence is abundant and left uncontrolled.

Transform® WG insecticide has received a special Section 18 Specific Emergency Exemption in several cotton-producing states for 2017. Field trials conducted by Dow AgroSciences over the past eight years have demonstrated that back-to-back applications of Transform at a rate of 1.5 oz/A at or near first bloom provide a yield advantage 84 percent of the time compared with other plant bug products. Transform can help extend the effectiveness of organophosphates, neonicotinoids and synthetic pyrethroids.

Effective at low use rates, Transform has minimal impact on beneficial insects, including lacewings and lady beetles, which provide natural control of spider mites and aphids.

Back-to-back applications of Transform have become an important control option over the past several years. Transform also fits well into IPM programs to address increasing resistance resulting from repeated use of the same products and chemistries.

• Grew up on a cotton/cattle farm in northeast Mississippi where he learned to chop and hand pick cotton at an early age • Began his career as a cotton scout in 1977 in the Mid-South Delta • Research assistant with Mobil Chemicals (1978) and Elanco (1979-81) while attending undergraduate and graduate school • Earned agricultural degrees from Mississippi State University in 1979 and 1981 • Research scientist with Rohm and Haas (R&H) in 1981, and then with Dow AgroSciences when it purchased R&H in 2001 • Currently a senior research scientist closing in on his personal goal of completing 40 years in agricultural research • Married 35 years to his wife, Marilyn; one son, one daughter, two grandchildren • Avid sportsman, hunter and fisherman

Recap: Control Insects To Maximize Yields

t

1. Scout frequently and thoroughly and carefully plan insecticide treatments.

2. Scout closely for plant bugs and monitor cotton plant square retention when cotton begins squaring, as plant bug populations are most likely to increase after this time.

3. Field trials conducted over the past eight years show back-to-back applications of Transform® WG insecticide at a rate of 1.5 oz/A at or near first bloom provide a yield advantage 84 percent of the time compared with other plant bug products.

4. Transform has minimal impact on beneficial insects.

5. Recognized as an important resistance management option for cotton farmers, Transform has received special EPA Section 18 Specific Emergency Exemptions in several key cotton-producing states.

Sponsored By

®™Trademark of The Dow Chemical Company (“Dow”) or an affiliated company of Dow. Transform WG is not registered by U.S. EPA. Transform has Section 18 ® DOW Diamond, Clincher, Grandstand and trademarks of TheArkansas, Dow Chemical Company (“Dow”) or an Specific Emergency Exemptions for use onGranite cotton are in Alabama, Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas. To learn more about affiliated company of Dow. Clincher CA, Clincher SF, Grandstand Grandstand R, Granite GR and Granite SCtoare Transform, to see which states or political subdivisions thereof haveCA, Section 18 Specific Emergency Exemptions, see the limitations on the use of Transform under not Section registered sale orEmergency use in all states.

Contact yourand state to carry determine if a product the 18 for Specific Exemption labels, to pesticide find a list regulatory of retailersagency that may this product under a particular Section 18 exemption, call 800is registered sale or use in your state.

Always readfollow and follow label directions.

Dow AgroSciences LLC 258-3033 or for email info@dow.com.

Always read and label directions. ©2017©2017 Dow AgroSciences LLC L38-396-014 (05/17) BR DAAGTFRM7055

COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE

COVER STORY

In severe target spot infections, the lower part of the canopy defoliates.

TAKING AIM Researchers Set Their Sights On Target Spot Control, But Several Questions Remain

BY VICKY BOYD MANAGING EDITOR

A

lthough researchers are gaining a better understanding of the fungal pathogen that causes target spot, they admit they still have a lot of unanswered questions.

Unlike many pests, where growers treat once a threshold is reached, deciding when to apply a fungicide for target spot isn’t that easy and involves meeting a series of conditions. Even then, obtaining a yield response isn’t a sure thing.

“It’s a difficult disease to work with, but the big thing is we’re not having to fight people who say the disease doesn’t matter any more,” says Dr. Bob Kemerait, a plant pathologist based at the University of Georgia’s Tifton campus. “Now rather than defending ourselves, we can focus on when it’s most likely to cause yield losses and what can be done about it, which is a giant step.”

He was referring to earlier disagreements among some researchers over whether target spot was a disease of economic importance for Southern cotton growers.

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COTTON FARMING JUNE 2017

Complicating matters are the differences in cultural practices, environmental conditions and varieties between the Mississippi Delta and the Southeast. That means results from target spot trials conducted in one region aren’t necessarily applicable to the other, says Dr. Tom Allen, an Extension plant pathologist with Mississippi State University’s Delta Research and Extension Center in Stoneville.

Cotton producers in Alabama and Georgia, for example, typically plant on narrower, 36-inch rows, and many use overhead sprinklers, which increases humidity levels under the canopy. Prolonged leaf wetness and high humidity create an environment ripe for disease development.

Parts of the Mississippi Delta experienced similar conditions in 2016 because of cloudy weather and nearly daily rains during July and August. Whether those conditions occur again this season in the Delta is anyone’s guess.

“Throw out everything you learned last year, because this year is going to be different,” says Allen, who is part COTTONFARMING.COM

Getting Closer To An Answer Kemerait, who has been working on target spot in cotton for more than 15 years, says researchers are getting closer to gaining a handle on the disease. He credited Cotton Incorporated for funding much of the target spot research.

“The biggest thing that’s happened for us is target spot is now considered a disease of importance,” he says. “Now we can ask the question, ‘When is it most important and when is it most profitable to spray?’ We’re refining what are the best recommendations.”

Before making an application, he says growers need to ask the following questions.  When in the season are you beginning to see target spot? The earlier the symptoms, the more likely growers will see a yield response with a fungicide spray.

“Typically if we’re seeing significant disease by about the third or fourth week of bloom — even into the fifth week of bloom — we can still see a measurable response from fungicide,” Kemerait says. By the sixth week, it’s too late to matter and producers have missed the application window.

Based on trials, Kemerait says a single fungicide application at the proper timing is the most critical, although he hasn’t always seen a yield response. If the disease is present early and is spreading quickly, then two fungicide applications — one at early bloom, followed by another two weeks later — may be the best option.

Strobilurins had been the fungicide of choice. Because of resistance concerns, Kemerait says Priaxor, a premix of Headline (pyraclostrobin) and Xemium (fluxapyroxad), is now his recommendation.

“We’re concerned and very much aware of how plastic and prone to resistance this organism is,” he says.  What is the field’s yield potential? Cotton on good soil that is being pushed and shows a strong yield potential also is more likely to be infected with target spot.

In this case, growers are also more likely to see a yield response compared to poorly growing cotton with a lower yield potential.  What variety are you growing? No cotton variety has natural resistance, although some varieties are more susceptible to target spot than others. “If you think this is a problem of (Phytogen) 499 and if you don’t plant 499 you don’t have to worry about target spot, you’re making a big mistake,” Kemerait says.  What crop was planted in the field the previous year? Trials have not been conducted to confirm whether target spot spores can survive from one season to the next by overwintering on leaf liter. Based on observations, Kemerait says target spot tends to be worse in fields where cotton is followed by cotton, especially if the grower is using reduced or conservation tillage. Splashing rain or irrigation can spread the spores from the leaf litter onto plants.

Target Spot In The Delta Unlike the Southeast coastal region, where target spot has been a perennial problem for several years, the Mississippi Delta has not had to contend with the disease Twitter: @CottonFarming

The 411 On Target Spot Target spot is caused by the fungus, Corynespora cassiicola.

Although the same genus and species also is responsible for target spot of soybeans, it is a different strain and is crop specific, says Dr. Bob Kemerait, a plant pathologist based at the University of Georgia’s Tifton campus.

Like many fungal diseases, target spot flourishes during warm temperatures between about 61 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit and prolonged periods of leaf wetness or high humidity.

Visual symptoms begin in the lower canopy as As target spot lesions expand, watersoaked or slightly they eventually may coalesce. discolored spots. As the disease progresses, tan or brown thumbnail-sized spots develop that have concentric rings, giving them a “bulls-eye” appearance.

Boll bracts and even bolls also may have lesions.

In severe infections, the spots coalesce over a large area of the leaf, causing it to eventually fall from the plant.

Early in the infection, symptoms aren’t visible from the turn-row, so you’ll need to walk into the field and examine lower portions of the plant canopy.

If significant defoliation occurs early in boll fill, it could affect overall lint yields by reducing the leaf area available for photosynthesis. But if defoliation occurs closer to harvest as leaves naturally begin to senesce, it may have little or no impact on yields.

COURTESY MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY

of a multi-state target spot research effort. “I think the hard part about target spot from a cotton standpoint is it seems like treatments may be much more effective in the southeast part of the country. From a response perspective, our results in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi have been more hit and miss.”

year in and year out. In three years of trials, Allen says he has yet to see a yield benefit with a fungicide application at first bloom followed by a second application two weeks later.

The plots were managed to encourage disease development by promoting rank growth and therefore did not receive a plant growth regulator.

What Allen has noticed in many plots is target spot isn’t the only pathogen — fungal diseases frequently occur as a complex. During 2016, many Mississippi producers reported a heavy boll load on plants. About five weeks after bloom, they started finding target spot, the plants began to shed bolls and growers blamed it on that disease.

Allen says it’s hard to tell what role target spot played in the boll drop without knowing what other diseases were present and not discounting the overall role of the environment. Cotton growth and development are generally reduced by extended periods of overcast weather.

Based on his work in the Delta, he says cultural management may be more important than fungicide applications in reducing target spot.

Growers should make PGR applications early in the season to control plant height and leaf area, he says.

Conversely, fields with rank or tall cotton and tight canopies typically have more severe target spot infections.

Nitrogen management also is critical, since applying more nitrogen than the plant needs can promote excessive vegetative growth, Allen says. At least in the Southeast, target spot seems more prevalent in strong fields where producers are pushing the plants to maximize yield potential.

JUNE 2017 COTTON FARMING

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SPECIAL REPORT

Be On The Lookout Entomologists from South Carolina, Mississippi and Texas offer an early outlook for potentially damaging cotton insect pests

BY CARROLL SMITH EDITOR

R

Top Four Arthropods Clemson entomologist Jeremy Greene says the potentially damaging early season arthropod pests he keeps an eye on are thrips, plant bugs, aphids and spider mites.

“The thrips forecasting tool developed by North Carolina State University uses a lot of data from Southeastern cooperators that will help farmers identify risk from thrips injury going into June,” Greene says.

“If you plug in different coordinates for South Carolina, the tool shows the southern half of the Coastal Plain where we grow most of our cotton is in the safe zone. Further north in the Pee Dee region of the state, risk from thrips injury is still possible, but declines with each passing day.

“Although we have squaring cotton in June, we typically don’t have problems with plant bugs in the Carolinas.

However, in the past several years, plant bugs have become more prevalent in large, commercial fields in some areas of North Carolina. It’s purely speculation whether plant bug pressure is related to field size, but we don’t seem to have this issue in fragmented fields surrounded by woods and alternate hosts.”

If plant bugs are present, Greene advises farmers to look at square retention to make sure at least 80 percent of the early square positions are staying in place. In droughtstressed cotton, he cautions growers

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COTTON FARMING JUNE 2017

RONALD SMITH, AUBURN UNIVERSITY, BUGWOOD.ORG

ows of young cotton not only are a beautiful sight to behold but also an attractive buffet for insect pests in search of a tasty bite. Entomologists in the Southeast, Mid-South and Texas have issued a be-on-the-lookout advisory for the usual suspects in cotton country.

In the Carolinas, aphids are particularly attracted to drought-stressed cotton. to be cognizant of aphids this time of year and spider mites in late June and after.

The Stage Is Set Before this year’s crops were even planted, Mississippi entomologists conducted extensive surveys looking for insect populations on alternate hosts.

“Following a fairly mild winter, we are seeing a tremendous amount of plant bugs and stink bugs in ditch banks,” says Mississippi State University Extension entomologist Angus Catchot. “We’ve also found bollworms in clover.

“High numbers of these pests outside the field doesn’t always correlate to what will go on inside the field, but the stage is set. We know they are there, and farmers need to be particularly mindful of migrating plant bugs coming out of wild host plants.”

Whether you are getting back into cotton or increasing your existing

acres, Catchot says the best defense to avoid pest problems is to put footprints in the field.

“Hire a good consultant who can inspect your fields on a weekly or biweekly basis,” he says.

Focus On Fleahoppers In Texas, fleahopper is the key pest to look out for in June.

“I have already seen some fairly decent fleahopper populations even in pre-squaring cotton,” says Texas A&M entomologist David Kerns.

“Some farmers are already treating for them where squares are set.”

With good winter precipitation and high temperatures, fleahopper populations can build up on wild hosts.

And during a fairly dry spring, wild hosts tend to diminish, causing fleahoppers to move into cotton, he says.

This pest is in the same insect family as plant bugs but is much smaller.

Fleahoppers remove squares from the cotton plant and typically are probCOTTONFARMING.COM

JAMES SMITH, MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY, BUGWOOD.ORG

RUSS OTTENS, UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA, BUGWOOD.ORG

Be aware of tarnished plant bugs coming out of wild host plants across the Mid-South. lematic until the first week of bloom.

“Foliar applications of Bidrin, neonicotinoids and acephate are commonly used to control them,” Kerns says.

In the Mid-South, fleahoppers typically stick to wild hosts although farmers in the Louisiana Red River Valley treat for them fairly consistently. Fleahoppers will appear in this area, all through Texas, and into New Mexico and eastern Arizona, he says.

“And dryland cotton is more sensitive to fleahopper injury,” Kerns says. “If you have irrigation or a lot

Fleahoppers can be found in the Louisiana Red River Valley, all through Texas, and into New Mexico and eastern Arizona.

of moisture and good growing conditions, the cotton can sometimes make up for early fruit loss. If the plant is not getting the moisture it needs, it’s not able to do this. I always tell growers to be more aggressive in controlling fleahoppers on dryland cotton than they normally have to be on irrigated.”

‘A Pretty Buggy Year’ Kerns says tarnished plant bugs may be problematic during June in the Rio Grande Valley, along the Texas

Gulf Coast and occasionally in Central Texas. A different species — the Western tarnished plant bug — may appear in West Texas where alfalfa is grown and in the High Plains.

“Although they are not necessarily June cotton pests, we also are seeing large stink bug, bollworm and fall armyworm populations in corn in some areas,” Kerns says. “Farmers need to be cognizant of the risk potential of these pests later on. We did have a mild winter so this could shape up to be a pretty buggy year.”

MSU entomologist Angus Catchot advises cotton farmers to hire a good consultant to inspect fields on a weekly or biweekly basis.

TWITTER: @COTTONFARMING

JUNE 2017 COTTON FARMING

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Industry News Transform WG Insecticide And Section 18s Update In 2015, the Environmental Protection agency cancelled the label for Transform WG insecticide, manufactured by Dow AgroSciences. In October 2016, EPA established a limited registration, but that registration did not include cotton or grain sorghum. According to Dow AgroSciences, Transform controls plant bugs in cotton and sugarcane aphids in grain sorghum.

Throughout 2016, states submitted requests for Section 18 emergency exemptions to allow the use of Transform in both of these crops.

The EPA granted these requests, and now states have submitted Section 18 requests for use in cotton and sorghum in 2017. Many states have already been granted Section 18 emergency exemptions for the 2017 season.

To check on the status of 2017 Section 18s and to obtain general product use information, go online to TransformMyCotton.com and TransformMySorghum.com.

“Dow AgroSciences recognizes the importance of Transform to U.S. agriculture and knows what data are required and is working diligently to provide EPA the information it needs to authorize previously labeled uses in these important crops,” says Phil Jost, insecticides marketing leader, Dow AgroSciences. “We fully anticipate that at some point in the future we will again have a federal label for Transform for use in cotton.

“Farmers, consultants and Extension entomologists understand how to use Transform and the value it brings to the marketplace by controlling the targeted pests in cotton and sorghum.”

Hank Jones, an independent crop consultant in Pioneer, La., says his farmers depend on him to assess how well Transform performs in their cotton fields.

“Transform is an efficacious insecticide that also provides residual activity,” he says. “The product targets pests we go after, and it’s a lot softer on beneficial insects. Transform also doesn’t flare unwanted pests, such as spider mites. I apply back-to-back shots of Transform around first cotton bloom when the plant is setting the bulk of the crop. Subsequent appli-

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COTTON FARMING JUNE 2017

Louisiana crop consultant Hank Jones applies back-to-back shots of Transform around first cotton bloom. cations are about 7-10 days apart depending on threshold numbers.

“That Dow AgroSciences is willing to invest more time and money into making sure we have a label for Transform means a lot to us consultants and farmers. And these Section 18s are vital to our insect control strategy.”

NCC: Maintaining NAFTA Benefits Is Crucial The National Cotton Council says the United States must remain a participant in a vibrant North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) because it has been and can continue to be a very positive trading platform for U.S. agriculture, including cotton and textiles.

NCC Chairman Ronnie Lee says the NAFTA trading partners of Canada and Mexico are significant markets for U.S. food and fiber exports. With purchases exceeding 1 million bales, Mexico has emerged as one of U.S. raw cotton’s top five export destinations. And NAFTA plays a critical role in North America’s highly integrated textile and apparel supply chain.

“With 95 percent of U.S. cotton exported in some form, we need positive and stable trading relationships with our international customers to maintain a healthy U.S. cotton sector,” says Lee, a Bronwood, Ga., cotton producer.

He says as the process of updating and renegotiating NAFTA proceeds, the U.S. cotton industry “urges the administration to stay involved in this important trade agreement and not weaken current provisions. A

strengthening of the textile rules of origin and a modernization of NAFTA can lead to an expansion of jobs and exports for our nation. This is a very sound way to grow our economy.”

Cotton Multimedia Campaign Grabs Top NAMA Award Archer Malmo, a Memphis, Tenn.based advertising, digital and public relations agency, was recognized recently by the National AgriMarketing Association (NAMA) at its annual “Best of NAMA” national awards ceremony, winning the Grand Champion title for its work for The Cotton Board. Grand Champion is the highest honor given by NAMA. The agency also received two first place awards, a “Best in Show” award and three merit awards.

The Best of NAMA awards program honors outstanding work in agricultural communications. Archer Malmo, which has deep experience in the agricultural industry, received these awards on behalf of clients including The Cotton Board, headquartered in Memphis, and Stoller, headquartered in Houston, Texas.

The agency’s seven NAMA awards are:  Grand Champion: “Renew Your Faith in Cotton” multimedia campaign – The Cotton Board  Best of Show – advertising: “Renew Your Faith in Cotton” multimedia campaign – The Cotton Board  First place, multimedia campaigns: “Renew Your Faith in Cotton” – The Cotton Board  First place, single page advertising: “Renew Your Faith in Cotton” – The Cotton Board COTTONFARMING.COM

Industry News  Merit award, less than a page ad: “Renew Your Faith in Cotton” – The Cotton Board  Merit award, single-page ads, single: “Tim Fisher: I sell quality” – Stoller  Merit award, single-page ads, series: “Farm Different Superstar Growers” ad series – Stoller “We’re honored that our ‘Renew Your Faith in Cotton’ campaign was named Grand Champion by NAMA this year,” says Mike Butler, SVP and group account director for Archer Malmo. “As our agency’s ag practice continues to grow, we’re grateful for the opportunity to work with inspiring, industry-leading clients.”

Stacey Gorman, director of communications for The Cotton Board, says, “This is very exciting for all of us at The Cotton Board. Our now award-winning ‘Renew your faith in cotton’ campaign speaks to the enduring and renewable nature of cotton, and how it is truly the fiber and food of the future. We thank our Memphisbased partner Archer Malmo for leveraging the unique culture of our crop and generating so much pride for our organization and our growers.”

the effective ways that he connected with clientele through outreach,” says Steve Nadler, professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. “He was a member of our department’s executive committee, and I could always count on Larry for sound advice.”

National Cotton Council Website Gets A Fresh Look The NCC website's updated design aims to make it more usable and navigable as well as to allow for new ways to bring information to NCC members and other interested groups.

The redesign, which retains the major information categories of About, Economics, Education, Issues, Technical and News & Events, features feeds from the NCC social media channels, a Member Spotlight, enhanced audio and visual capabilities, as well as interactive maps.

T h e o r g a n i z a t i o n ’s w e b s i t e , www.cotton.org, is supported by a Cotton Foundation general project, “Enhancing Cotton Industry Education and Information Through the National Cotton Council website.”

Perdue To Keynote Delta Council Annual Meeting June 9 U.S. Secretary of Agriculture George Ervin “Sonny” Perdue will be the featured guest and keynote speaker for the 82nd Delta Council Annual Meeting, June 9, at 10:30 a.m. It will be held in Delta State University's Bologna Performing Arts Center in Cleveland, Miss.

“We are so pleased that agriculture’s friend from Georgia, Sonny Perdue, will be the featured speaker for this year ’s Delta Council A n nu a l M e e t i n g ,” s ay s D e l t a Council President Harry Simmons, an aquaculture and row-crop farmer and catfish processor in Yazoo City, Miss. “Secretary Perdue has an impressive backg round as an agribusiness man and two-term successful governor of Georgia. We look forward to the opportunity to meet with him and hear his thoughts on the future of America’s agricultural industry.”

The tradition of a fried catfish luncheon will conclude the program for the 82nd annual event on the grounds of the Quadrangle at DSU.

Longtime California Extension Entomologist Died University of California Cooperative Extension entomologist Larry Godfrey, a 26-year member of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology faculty and widely known for his research on applied insect ecology and integrated pest management strategies, died April 18, succumbing to cancer. He was 60.

Dr. Godfrey was internationally acclaimed for his research on cotton and rice. He was involved in developing IPM to maintain California agriculture's sustainability, seeking “to reduce the ‘footprint’ of agriculture on the environment and society, and to advance the science of entomology and applied insect ecology.”

At UC Davis, Godfrey taught arthropod pest management and agricultural entomology. He developed IPM strategies for not only rice and cotton but for such field and vegetable crops as alfalfa, dry beans, timothy grass, melons, mint and onions.

“Larry was an outstanding contributor to the department, not only as a researcher and teacher, but also in TWITTER: @COTTONFARMING

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GEORGIA FARM BUREAU

Secretary Perdue Addresses GFB Group In Washington

A

griculture Secretary Sonny Perdue opened his first full day on the job with a speech to Georgia Farm Bureau members in Washington, D.C., recently, as part of the annual GFB county presidents’ trip to D.C. Perdue pledged to run the U.S. Department of Agriculture efficiently and acknowledged important issues facing American farmers.

“We’re going to work hard to make sure that agriculture is acknowledged and recognized for the industry that it is,” says Perdue, who is believed to be the first presidential cabinet member to speak to a GFB group. “You hear a lot of people talking about manufacturing and the demise of manufacturing. We do have some manufacturing challenges in some places, but I’d submit to you that agriculture is one of the finest, most natural manufacturing organizations, and it has been the most productive over the last 75 years in this country.”

American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall and Sen. David Perdue also spoke at the breakfast, encouraging farmers to stay active in voicing their concerns about agricultural issues.

“Georgia is an agricultural state and we need to hear from you,” says Sen. Perdue, a member of the Senate Ag Committee. “But don’t just write to me. Write to congressmen in other states and let them know your views on agricultural issues.”

Engage With Elected Officials Duvall called for farmers to be united and to engage with elected officials.

“The strength and power of our organization doesn’t lie with me or with Gerald [GFB President Long]. It lies with you,” Duvall says, urging farmers to maintain contact with elected officials. “If we disengage at this point in history, we’ll have a disaster.”

County Farm Bureau presidents from all over Georgia met with members of Georgia’s congressional delegation and AFBF staff. The GFB group delivered the organization’s stance on immigration and labor, tax reform, federal regulation, the next Farm Bill and agricultural trade.

AFBF Executive Director for Public Policy Dale Moore outlined AFBF’s priority issues — immigration/labor, tax reform, trade, regulatory reform and the Farm Bill.

Farm Bill, NAFTA And Taxes Dr. John Newton, AFBF director of market intelligence, reviewed efforts on key topics of discussion during the development of the next Farm Bill. He pointed out the ineffectiveness of the dairy and cotton provisions under the current Farm Bill. He also noted the importance to farmers of the nutrition portion of the Farm Bill, saying it is crucial to gaining support of lawmakers from urban

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Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue spoke to Georgia Farm Bureau members during a breakfast meeting in Washington, D.C. districts in getting the Farm Bill to pass.

AFBF Senior Director of Congressional Relations Dave Salmonsen discussed trade issues likely to be taken up by the Trump administration, particularly as they relate to U.S. agricultural trade with Canada and Mexico; President Trump has indicated a desire to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement.

“The thing we mostly don’t want is to have anyone charging new tariffs,” Salmonsen says.

AFBF Senior Director of Congressional Relations Pat Wolff talked about tax issues the organization would like to see addressed in any tax reform package. Wolff says any new legislation should address the effective tax rate, lower the capital gains tax, expand section 179 deductions and would ideally do away with the death tax.

The Migrant Workforce AFBF Director of Congressional Relations Kristi Boswell discussed the need to fix the country’s broken immigration system, saying that while AFBF supports increased border security, intensifying immigration enforcement activities are having a chilling effect on the nation’s migrant workforce.

“We can’t risk losing 50-70 percent of our workers because of stepped-up enforcement,” Boswell says. “There is a lot of anxiety on the ground within our farmers and within our workers.”

By Jay Stone, reprinted from the May 3 Georgia Farm Bureau News Alert.

COTTONFARMING.COM

SPECIAL REPORT

High-Quality Cotton Attracting Export Demand, Higher Prices

BY BLAIR FANNIN TEXAS A&M AGRILIFE

T

he 2016 U.S. cotton crop produced high yields and high-quality fiber, triggering a spike in export demand and higher market prices, according to a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service economist.

“No question, we had high-quality cotton produced in 2016 that was widespread across the board,” says Dr. John Robinson, AgriLife Extension cotton marketing economist in College Station. “We had high yields, which resulted in more quality cotton to market. That put us in the cat bird’s seat.”

Since August, Robinson says the demand relationship has shifted “outward,” meaning more cotton has been flowing out to the export markets due to political unrest and India losing some of its market share. Cotton prices have reached the upper 70-cent range in recent weeks.

“Some of our export competitors had problems, whether it be political policy or India losing export market share, and we picked up the slack,” he says. “We were shipping more as a result of the India policy issue.

That’s all great and mostly explains the strengthening in old crop futures.

I don’t know if those will carry over into next year.”

Fashion trends, such as fitness wear, have shifted demand from cot-

Dr. John Robinson, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service cotton marketing economist ton to synthetic materials, holding back demand for cotton.

“Instead of cotton expanding beyond population growth, it’s been limited by that fashion trend,” Robinson says.

However, trends tend to fade over time and consumer preferences may switch back to cotton.

Weather And Increased Acres Robinson says it’s hard to predict whether U.S. cotton farmers will produce another year of top-quality cotton.

“Weather is hard to predict,” he says. “I’m advising producers to be careful, since this strong demand may not be there and prices may not be as strong. You might want to do something with high prices now because they may not last. And you’ve got to factor in that we’ve potentially got a huge crop coming with the additional acres that were planted.”

For Texas, cotton crop conditions appear to be favorable heading into the summer growing season.

“So far we are good in terms of moisture,” Robinson says. “Most of Texas is showing adequate soil moisture. We are off to a good start. I saw a report that indicated a 50-50 chance for an El Niño event that could start as early as August.

“Those rains in August can make a big difference. You multiply that times the acreage increase and we could have a lot of supply, and a decrease in prices. We could see futures prices at 60 cents (per pound) or lower by harvest time.”

Texas AgriLife Research & Extension Center contributed this article. Blair Fannin is News Editor with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service/ Texas A&M AgriLife Research in College Station. Contact Fannin at 979-845-2259 or b-fannin@tamu.edu.

SARAH KALINA

In 2016, Texas producers harvested a large crop of high-quality cotton.

TWITTER: @COTTONFARMING

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Specialists Speaking Early Season Insect Pressure ARKANSAS Bill Robertson Effects of this spring’s extreme rainfall and flooding will likely still be evident for some as we roll into June. Although we experienced well above-average temperatures in early April, the end of April and first part of May was cool. Cool temperatures can delay the onset of squaring. In our early planted cotton, first pinhead square generally occurs 40-45 days after planting compared to mid-May planted cotton, which can take less than 35 days.

Pest management issues generally have been the greatest concerns for our crop so far. However, over the next few weeks, other factors including fertility and soil moisture stress become more critical. Research demonstrates the importance of avoiding stress once squaring begins.

Irrigation management is our next big challenge. Many programs, tools and practices are available to help improve irrigation water-use efficiency. Everyone who uses poly pipe should be using computerized hole selection. We want to go into squaring with a plant developing a new node every 2.5 to three days and have square retention greater than 80 percent. This will put us on track to having nine to 10 nodes above white flower at first flower.

Contact your county Extension agent for additional information. brobertson@uaex.edu

fiber quality.

Additional information related to early season cotton management practices for optimum production can be found at cals.arizona.edu/crops. rnorton@cals.arizona.edu

FLORIDA David Wright As a farmer once told me, “I have been farming for 40 years, but this is the first time I have farmed this year.” There is a lot of truth in knowing that every year brings its own challenges and will be different from other years. The deep Southeast has been under a drought watch for most of the spring with record temperatures during the winter months and a late-season frost thrown in.

Mild winter temperatures have been a concern for many farmers as there appears to be higher populations of insects earlier in the year. A lot of acres have not been treated at this point, but scouts and consultants are on high alert for potential outbreaks due to environmental conditions and the importance of retaining squares for earliness. Many of the new, high-yielding cotton varieties are maturing sooner. This allows growers to make management decisions earlier in the year and harvest sooner so that less management is required. wright@ufl.edu

ARIZONA Randy Norton

LOUISIANA Dan Fromme

Early season cotton management is critical to establishing a good foundation. This will provide the greatest probability of a successful crop with high yield and good fiber quality. A favorable distribution of fruit throughout the plant canopy will go a long way to ensure optimum fiber quality and yield.

Avoiding gaps in fruit set is also critical for maintaining a proper balance between the vegetative and reproductive aspect of cotton growth and development.

Protecting early fruit set can be challenging, as there are many factors — both biotic and abiotic — that can significantly affect early square retention. It is critical to monitor the early crop for the presence of insect pest populations, ensuring they do not rise to damaging levels.

Scouting techniques and control measures have been developed for major pests affecting Arizona cotton and can be found on the University of Arizona’s Crop Information Site (ACIS). Abiotic factors can also affect early season square retention. Hot dry winds, which we have had plenty of this year, can desiccate or sandblast young tender squares, causing fruit abortion. Another management-related practice that will protect early season fruit set involves maintaining proper plant-water relations through adequate and timely irrigation.

It has been, and in some cases still is, a common practice to impose early season water stress to help induce crop fruiting and flowering and to control excessive vegetative growth.

With today’s newer, more determinant varieties, withholding water to induce flowering and control vegetative growth has the potential to impose sufficient stress, causing the plant to rapidly progress toward cut-out and induce abortion of small pinhead squares. This can reduce yield and fiber quality. Properly managing soil-plant moisture status is critical to obtaining optimum yield and

As of May 9, cotton planting in the state is about 80 percent completed. During April, heavy rainfall in excess of 15 inches was received in parts of the state. Some fields had to be replanted, and seedling disease has been an issue due to cool temperatures.

Once planting has been completed and cotton has emerged, producers will make sidedress applications of nitrogen.

Thrips populations are currently being monitored in cotton that has not reached the five true leaf stage. LSU AgCenter entomologists recommend treating when immature thrips first appear on seedling cotton. Once cotton has reached the five true leaf stage and growing conditions are good, thrips control is no longer needed.

Fleahoppers and tarnished plant bug numbers are being monitored in cotton that has started squaring. Cotton should be scouted for fleahoppers during the first three weeks of squaring. Detection can be difficult due to the flighty nature of these insects. Our entomologists recommend treating when 10-25 of these insects per 100 plants are found. These treatment levels may be adjusted to maintain between 70-85 percent first position square retention.

For tarnished plant bug control, pre-bloom threshold levels are 10-25 plant bugs per 100 sweeps. Adjust pre-bloom treatment levels to maintain between 70-85 percent first position square retention. The Louisiana threshold for the bloom to harvest period is 2-3 tarnished plant bugs per 5 feet of black drop cloth, 10 plant bugs per 100 sweeps or 10 percent dirty squares.

Occasionally, clouded plant bugs can be found in Louisiana cotton. Pre-bloom and bloom threshold levels are the same as for tarnished plant bugs. However, each clouded plant bug should be counted as an equivalent to 1.5 tarnished plant bugs when determining a treatment decision. dfromme@agcenter.lsu.edu

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COTTONFARMING.COM

Specialists Speaking Challenging springs are becoming the rule rather than the exception in Mississippi. Early April turned warmer than expected and as a result, a number of folks started planting cotton. However, late April and early May brought cooler temperatures, rainfall and high winds in areas, which led to seedling disease, sandblasting and ultimately some replants.

Two key focus points in June will be thrips and pigweed management. Regardless of seed treatment (or over-treatment) or in-furrow application, thrips should still be monitored to prevent any potential delays in crop maturity and/or yield loss. Although it may be tempting to save money on a thrips application, the downside potential of not treating above threshold thrips populations far exceeds potential money saved by not making an application.

Pigweeds have become commonplace in cotton throughout the Mid-South and other areas. Everyone is aware that 2,4-D- and dicamba-tolerant cotton are now available and can be legally sprayed with these products. Do not rely solely on them for pigweed control. Integrate them into your existing weed control program as necessary, but do not use them in place of residual herbicides. A complete weed management program that incorporates multiple herbicides (and modes of action) and other forms of weed control is essential for the longevity of available products. darrind@ext.msstate.edu

MISSOURI Mike Milam What a difference a year makes. According to the May 8 Missouri Crop Progress and Condition Report, 16 percent of our cotton had been planted. At this time last year, 84 percent was in the ground, with the five-year average of 42 percent.

I have looked at the weather data from several of the weather stations located in Dunklin and Pemiscot counties. During a 16-day period from April 20 through May 5, our weather stations average more than 8 inches of rain. This is not conducive for cotton growth and development. Of even greater concern are low night temperatures. These same weather stations had average low temperatures in the low 50s. Some of these night temperatures were in the 40s. I have seen several fields that looked good after emerging, but the stands were poor after all of the rainfall. With chilling injury, even if the plants survive, they will not be productive. So most of the cotton will be replanted.

We have had structural damage to buildings and equipment, flooded fields and closed roads. With replanting, there will be a need for thrips control to keep the cotton growing. Seed treatments, in-furrow and foliar sprays will work better with warmer temperatures.

The good news is we are now in the optimum planting period.

Even if planted later than recommended, better-than-average yields can be expected since the boll weevil will not damage the top crop. milammr@missouri.edu

NORTH CAROLINA Guy Collins Heavy rains and some flooding during the last week in April delayed the beginning of the 2017 North Carolina planting season to the very end of April and early May. The initial delay was a minor issue and allowed producers to start planting with ideal temperatures and sufficient soil moisture.

However, as I write this on the evening of May 3, the forecast indicates a cool front will move through the state during the May 5 weekend. Therefore, most planting ceased today and will Twitter: @CottonFarming

RONALD SMITH, AUBURN UNIVERSITY, BUGWOOD.ORG

MISSISSIPPI Darrin Dodds

If not controlled, tarnished plant bugs can damage cotton pinhead squares. likely resume on May 9. This may cause some growers to be slightly behind schedule. However, it is early in the planting window, and farmers should be able to make up for lost time with good temperatures following this cool spell.

Some cotton emerged and was healthy in early May. This year, so far, illustrates how seedling vigor and rate of emergence are improved with warm temperatures and attention to planting practices.

As in any year, rapid stand establishment and seedling growth will help minimize the effects of thrips. Beyond the use of in-furrow insecticides and seed treatments, timely foliar sprays may be necessary in many cases, depending on weather, growing conditions and presence of thrips.

Our entomology team at North Carolina State University has recently developed a useful online tool for predicting thrips infestation.

It can be found at climate.ncsu.edu/cottonthripsrisk/.

By the time farmers read this, we will be getting close to scouting for plant bugs. Lygus insects have been increasingly problematic in North Carolina for the past few years. To combat this insect pest, farmers should focus on timely, frequent and thorough scouting for presence of insects and their damage, beginning at very early squaring or even slightly before. Rotating chemistries is also important. If economic thresholds are reached and treatment is justified, scouting should resume shortly after application to detect any re-infestation. guy_collins@ncsu.edu

OKLAHOMA Randy Boman As of this writing on May 10, we have encountered good to excellent moisture across the cotton-producing area of the state. For this time of year, that is really good news. We are now entering our historical, prime cotton-planting window for irrigated acreage.

Soil temperatures have been good over the past week or so, and some producers have begun planting.

With the good to excellent spring rainfall we have encountered in many counties, plenty of alternate hosts that can harbor cotton insect pests are growing across the landscape. Producers need to keep an eye on thrips populations and be ready to make topical applications to preserve crop earliness. Cotton fleahoppers may also be JUNE 2017 COTTON FARMING

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Specialists Speaking problematic this year. Producers need to be on point with respect to this square thief during the squaring phase of the crop. Once the crop begins blooming, fleahoppers typically are not a major concern in our cotton-growing counties.

As we move forward with planting, there is a bit of unfinished business for the 2016 crop. I finally had an opportunity to inspect National Agricultural Statistic Service yields and the Abilene U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Marketing Service final fiber quality summary for the state. It appears the 2016 crop was another year of record yield at 1,021 pounds per acre, which was well above 2015’s previous record for all practices (dryland and irrigated combined).

The 2016 yield breaks the previous record set in 2015 (876 pounds per acre) by nearly 150 pounds. Fiber property averages for the crop were generally good to excellent for the state. Average HVI length broke 2015’s record, coming in at 36.3-32nds inch. Uniformity average was 81.2 percent and approached 2015’s record of 81.3 percent.

Strength average was 30.3 g/tex, which was somewhat below last year’s highest ever of 31.3 g/tex.

All of this indicates that producers are paying attention to new genetics — and when we have good rainfall support from Mother Nature, we can produce excellent yields of high-quality fiber.

Let’s hope the 2017 crop continues this fantastic winning streak. randy.boman@okstate.edu

thrips injury at the cotyledon to first true leaf stage so a timely insecticide application can be made to close the gap between seed treatment activity and the four- to five-leaf stage. This is when the plant is typically much more tolerant to thrips feeding.

While scouting for thrips, it’s also a good idea to take note of any weed pressure. Although residual herbicides are a critical part of our weed-control program and are widely used in the High Plains, escapes can and will occur. Taking note of where escapes are in the field and the weed species can ensure timely herbicide applications are made and the correct products applied.

Even with new technologies and chemistries available for use in cotton, we still need to target small weeds (less than 4 inches) to get good control and manage herbicide resistance. Getting rid of problematic weeds now can help prevent their spread and avoid having to use manual weed control later in the season when they become too large to control with herbicides. seth.byrd@ag.tamu.edu

Cotton in the Rio Grande Valley ranges from early squaring to early bloom with dryland fields in need of significant rainfall. The irrigated and early planted cotton is in early bloom and will soon need a third irrigation.

Insect pressure varies by area. Fleahopper, aphid and whitefly numbers have generally been fairly low.

It is a similar situation from the Coastal Bend through the Blacklands, where the cotton looks good but also is in need of substantial rainfall. Insect pressure also has been moderately low in each of these regions.

Adoption of Flag The Technology has been lower than hoped in each of these regions, but no major complaints of off-target movement of dicamba-based herbicides or Enlist Duo into susceptible crops has occurred thus far. As production in the Rolling Plains is expected to get underway toward the middle of May, the importance of starting the season “weed-free” is economically significant for weed management regardless of the herbicide-tolerant traits. The Rolling Plains needs a rain to have adequate planting moisture to obtain a good stand and start the season strong. gdmorgan@tamu.edu

TEXAS Seth Byrd Planting conditions were favorable leading into May. As of May 9, a lot of cotton is expected to be planted on the High Plains during the middle of the month, although there will likely still be a considerable amount of acres planted in late May and into early June. Several things to be on the lookout for during the first few weeks after planting are key for optimizing early season growth and avoiding issues later in the year.

Many fields planted in the first part of May could have increased risk of thrips injury due to earlier planting coinciding with insects moving out of matured wheat. Be on the lookout for thrips injury symptoms, which include cupped or curled leaves and stunted growth. Thrips damage can be especially severe if cool temperatures are present, which will further reduce plant growth. Scout fields for

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M.D. TOEWS/UGA

TEXAS Gaylon Morgan

The University of Tennessee Extension Service says cotton leaves injured by thrips will curl upward, emerging leaves will have a ragged appearance, and the plant terminal may be killed.

TENNESSEE Tyson Raper On May 10, it appears we will have a nice window in which to plant our crop. Given the 10-day forecast, I suspect most of our cotton will be planted by the third week in May. Much of the crop should be out of the window of concern (beyond the third true leaf stage) for thrips by June 1.

For later-planted cotton, remember a foliar spray for thrips at the one- to two-leaf stage has become standard practice.

This application protects the seedling through the susceptible stage and assists in resistance management. A single application applied prior to emergence of the second true leaf commonly results in a yield increase. However, it is rare to see a yield increase associated with two foliar applications given an at-planting treatment (either in-furrow or seed treatment) was applied.

For more on thrips management and to get the most up-to-date information on recent plant bug developments, check out news.utcrops.com. traper@utk.edu COTTONFARMING.COM

COTTON

Ginners Marketplace COTTON FARMING IS THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE GINNING INDUSTRY.

Inspections Update Under New Administration As we have discussed in previous articles, there has been a significant number of Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspections in Texas over the past few years. The primary reason for the uptick is the higher number of injuries being reported to the agency in response to the updated OSHA reporting rule. If you are unfamiliar with that rule, refer to the January 2015 edition of Cotton Ginners Marketplace for a full discussion.

OSHA Inspections Now that we are several months into the new administration, I believe we have seen enough to be able to contrast OSHA operations under the two presidents. I don’t know that the inspection numbers have changed under the new administration. The reason is that inspections are typically generated by an OSHA report from the employer or an employee. This system is not likely to change anytime soon.

I believe the changes have happened in what occurs after an inspection. First, citations are issued in a much more reasonable manner now. Previously, it seemed that OSHA would try to use each citation to push the boundaries of its regula-

tions, which is exactly what the previous OSHA administrator had said he would do. Now the citations seem to be more in line with what the regulations allow. In addition, regional folks are focused on addressing safety issues and working out citations, rather than pushing the envelope.

Going forward, I think the reporting rule will continue to cause more inspections. But the good news is the inspection results generally appear to be much better, and the process seems to be going more smoothly with the new leadership.

Wage And Hour Inspections The Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor also came through West Texas with three crews of inspectors who spent two weeks scouring the country. They were checking for compliance with the Migrant and Seasonal Worker Protection Act regulations. Their issues included proper payment practices, proper bonus payment calculations, housing issues and hiring procedures.

There were very few concerns with the way our gins paid workers. There were several issues with migrant housing, which always seems to be the case with these types of inspections. The main problems we found worth talking about include the proper use and handling of the WH-516 and WH520 forms.

The WH-516 must be provided to all migrant workers when

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JUNE 2017 COTTON FARMING

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Cotton Ginners Marketplace

1 – Lubbock Electric Hydraulic Pumping Unit for Gin Dor-Les® or E.E. Dor-Les® Press (single reservoir with multiple motor/pump groups)

1 - Complete 2/141 Gin Plant consisting of: Unloading System with 15” diameter single-lane Powered Telescope, Rock Trap with Trash Vacuum, 72” Unloading Separator/Feed Control with Vacuum Wheel and Flight-Saver, and No. 50 Unloading Fan; First-Stage Drying/Precleaning System with Continental 3 MBTU Burner and No. 40 Push Fan, 54” Tower Dryer, 96” Continental Inclined Cleaner with Vacuum Wheel over 96” Horn 3-Saw Stick Machine (with double 96” x 24” Vacuum Wheels), Second-Stage Drying/Precleaning System with Continental 3 MBTU Burner and No. 40 Push Fan, 54” Tower Dryer, 96” Continental Inclined Cleaner with Vacuum Wheel over 96” Continental 2-Saw Stick Machine; Distribution/Overflow System with Continental 2-Stand Conveyor Distributor and 72” Automatic Overflow Hopper with Breaker Cylinder; Feeding/Ginning System with two (2) Continental 141-Saw Gins (converted) and 96” Comet Supreme Feeders; Lint Cleaning System with four (4) 66” wide Continental 16-D Lint Cleaners (two tandem arrangements); Condensing/Pressing System with 50” Moss Battery Condenser, 20” x 54” Continental Bespress, and Bale Handling System with Bale Push Cart (manual) and Bagger (powered); five (5) Smith 35/40 Centrifugal Fans (only one season of operation)

ww

they are hired and must be filled out completely and properly. If you are unfamiliar with this form, be sure to get familiar with it before next year. The biggest problem we are having involves the period of employment. We have been putting the hire date as the beginning of employment and “end of ginning season” as the end. They want a date in both blanks. We are in the process of trying to convince them that we cannot put a fixed end date in this contract. We hope to get this issue worked out with the DOL soon.

We were unfamiliar with the WH-520. This form is required youPage have1migrant housing and describes the terms and con3 template 3/7/14 3:26if PM ditions under which you are providing the housing.

They also had originally insisted we include an employee’s full Social Security number on the paystub. We convinced them that having the number in an X’ed out format would be adequate and much safer from an identity theft standpoint.

We are still working through these issues with the Wage and Hour folks, but we hope to come to an agreeable solution soon. It was good to see that the issues they found were fairly narrow in scope. For the vast majority of concerns related to migrant workers, our gins seem to be right on track.

If your cotton gin’s moisture system is older than your picker/stripper, you are probably leaving money on the table.

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Lubbock: 806-795-5218 Mid-South: 662-809-9730 Southeast: 425-244-0285 Oklahoma: 214-695-0158 Advertise in Cotton Ginner’s Marketplace • Place classified ads for equipment, sales and help wanted • Generate leads, drive sales and INCREASE PROFITS Contact Sales Manager Scott Emerson 386-462-1532 • semerson@onegrower.com

Kelley Green, director of technical services for the Texas Cotton Ginners’ Association, contributed this article. Contact him at Kelley@tcga.org.

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Cotton’s Calendar

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2017 ■ June 9: 82nd Delta Council Annual Meeting, 10:30 a.m., Bologna Performing Arts Center, Delta State University, Cleveland, Miss.

■ June 13-15: Cotton Incorporated June Meeting, Dallas, Texas ■ June 15: Calcot Ltd. Board of Directors Meeting, Phoenix, Ariz.

■ June 21-24: CWAA Meeting, Benson Hotel, Portland,Ore. ■ June 21: Staplcotn/Stapldiscount Board Meeting, Greenwood, Miss.

■ June 21: Plains Cotton Cooperative Association Board Meeting and Delegate Body Meeting, Lubbock, Texas ■ June 29-30: Arizona Cotton Ginners and Growers Joint Meeting, Flagstaff, Ariz.

■ July 10-12: Southern Southeastern Mid-Year Board Meeting, Marriott Grand Dunes, Myrtle Beach, S.C. ■ July 10-12: Southern Cotton Ginners Association Summer Meeting, DoubleTree by Hilton Lafayette, Lafayette, La. ■ July 12: Plains Cotton Growers Inc. Board Meeting, Bayer Museum of Agriculture, Lubbock, Texas ■ July 20: Calcot Ltd. Board of Directors Meeting, Phoenix, Ariz.

■ Aug. 8-10: Cotton Board/Cotton Incorporated Joint Meeting, Durham, N.C. ■ Aug. 16: PCCA Board Meeting and Delegate Body Meeting, Lubbock, Texas ■ Aug. 17-18: 2017 American Cotton Producers/Cotton Foundation Joint Summer Meeting, Westin Buckhead Atlanta Hotel, Atlanta, Ga.

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■ Aug. 23-25: National Cotton Council Mid-Year Board Meeting, Peabody Hotel, Memphis, Tenn.

■ Sept. 20: PCCA Annual Meeting, Lubbock, Texas ■ Sept. 20: PCCA Board Meeting, Lubbock, Texas ■ Sept. 20: Staplcotn/Stapldiscount Annual Meeting, Greenwood, Miss.

■ Sept. 25: Calcot Ltd. Board of Directors/Auditors Meeting, Phoenix, Ariz.

■ Sept. 26: Calcot Ltd. Board of Directors Meeting/90th Annual Meeting, Phoenix, Ariz.

■ Oct. 11: PCG Inc. Board Meeting, Bayer Museum of Agriculture, Lubbock, Texas ■ Oct. 18: PCCA Board Meeting and Delegate Body Meeting, Lubbock, Texas ■ Dec. 5-7: Cotton Board/Cotton Incorporated Joint Meeting, St. Petersburg, Fla.

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■ Nov. 15: PCCA Board Meeting, Lubbock, Texas

■ Dec. 20: PCCA Board Meeting and Delegate Body Meeting, Lubbock, Texas

2018 ■ Jan. 3-5: Beltwide Cotton Conferences, Marriott Rivercenter Hotel, San Antonio, Texas ■ Feb. 9-11: NCC Annual Meeting, Omni Hotel, Fort Worth, Texas ■ April 5-6: TCGA Annual Meeting and Trade Show, Lubbock Memorial Civic Center, Lubbock, Texas

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■ Aug. 20-22: NCC Mid-Year Board Meeting, Loews Vanderbilt Hotel, Nashville, Tenn.

TWITTER TWITTER : @C : @C OTTON OTTON FARMING FARMING

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JUNE JUNE 2017 2017 COTTON COTTON FARMING FARMING

My Turn Picking On The Terrace Row

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s a youngster, I grew Perry Adkisson, Don Rummel, Winfield Sterling, up hand picking Charles Parencia, Ray Frisbie, Dale Newsom, cotton on a small, Dan Clower, Jerry Graves, Charles Lincoln, Jacob family cotton farm Phillips, David Young, H.C. Mitchell, Aubrey Harris, in Lawrence County, Ala., James Brazell, D.D. Hardee, Marion Lassiter, Bill during the late 1940s and Cross, Gerald McKibben, Ted Pfrimmer, Jimmy 1950s. Cotton was our pri- Smith, Floyd Gilliland, Roy Ledbetter, Don mary crop. It paid the bills Canerday, Al Hopkins, J.R. Bradley, E.F. Knipling and purchased a new pair of and numerous others. And our discipline is still in great hands. Most cotton-producing states have shoes at harvest time.

One of my favorite books, highly productive, dynamic, forward-thinking entoRed Hills and Cotton – An mologists directing cotton IPM toward the future.

Ron I am personally most thankful for the support of Upcountry Memory, by Ben Smith Robertson, University of Alabama cotton producers. Relationships with counSouth Carolina Press, 1940, ty or regional Extension agents, private consultants, had a quote that sums up my, and my family’s, industry fieldmen, aerial applicators, ag industry feelings toward cotton: “Our lives and our father’s contacts and the ag media have been rewarding as father’s lives have been built around cotton … our well. To me, my biggest career achievement was being able to change with Great-Aunt Narcissa statthe times, adapt and find ed once in public that she “I am thankful for the support where new technology did not care what anybody best fits in Alabama cotin Washington or anyof Alabama cotton farmers.” ton insect control. where else in the world M y c ar eer al s o has said about cotton, it was still the greatest crop that heaven ever gave to any spanned the most evolutionary period ever in cotton insect management: From spraying for boll weevils country.”

On April 24, 1972, I began my career as an every five days to the pyrethroid and ovicide era.

Extension entomologist with Auburn University. From boll weevil eradication to the devastating Following my retirement on Dec. 31, 2003, I continued years of resistant tobacco budworms and beet armymy work as Professor Emeritus, focusing primarily worms to the introduction of genetically altered on cotton insect management with Auburn as a con- varieties. And then the development of stink bug tract entomologist. It just did not seem right to throw and lygus as the most economic insects. What an away all the cotton Integrated Pest Manangement evolution. Chemical tools have changed, too. The old experiences I had accumulated over more than three timers would never have believed we could control tobacco budworms and leave lady beetles and other decades of Extension work.

When I began working with cotton insects in 1972, beneficial insects untouched. Diamide and spinosad I had no idea what an interesting journey lay ahead chemistries have allowed us to do that.

Our Delta readers may not get the significance of of me. As far as control tools, my path has gone from DDT to GMOs. I may be the last active university hand picking cotton on a terrace row so I will explain. entomologist who ever recommended DDT for cotton Back home, our hills required terraces for erosion insect control. The evolution of insects during my control. They were formed by plowing up soil, which career began with the boll weevil as the “key pest” of meant the topsoil was deeper on the terrace rows. cotton to the current low-spray environment where This resulted in higher yielding cotton at harvest, stink bugs are the predominant economic insect in enabling hand pickers to pick more each day and the coastal plains of the southeastern United States. therefore earn more money. In looking back, my time I also had the opportunity to cross paths or devel- as a cotton entomologist has been 45 seasons of pickop relationships with some of the dominant cotton ing on the terrace row.

— Ron Smith, Auburn, Ala. entomologists of the past century. Among them are smithrh@auburn.edu scholars such as Drs. Tom Leigh, Theo Watson,

Cotton Farming’s back page is devoted to telling unusual “farm tales” or timely stories from across the Cotton Belt. Now it’s your turn. If you’ve got an interesting story to tell, send a short summary to csmith@onegrower.com. We look forward to hearing from you.

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