Lubbock, Texas
June 17, 2003
South Plains farmers with damaged
or failed cotton acres have some hard decisions to make in the
next two weeks. Some will take their chances with what's left in
the field. Others will simply have to
plow it under and try again.
"Those who are wondering about
replanting should read Making Replant Decisions, Effects of
Stand Loss and Skips on Cotton Yields, and Cotton Variety
Considerations Under Replant Conditions," said Randy Boman,
Texas Cooperative Extension cotton agronomist based at Lubbock.
These publications are available at county Extension offices or
on the Internet at:
http://lubbock.tamu.edu/cotton.
"Farmers should evaluate the
plant density in damaged fields before deciding to zero-out
those acres. If you've still got a stand of at least 1½ healthy
plants per foot of row, you should consider sticking with the
crop. Given good growing conditions, it could still make
acceptable yields," Boman said. "If you decide to zero it out,
be sure and double check your replanting options -- so you will
remain in compliance with farm program regulations."
Farmers with failed cotton acres
still have time to plant a catch crop such as grain sorghum,
sunflowers, soybeans, guar, sesame, peas and beans, said Calvin
Trostle, Extension agronomist based at Lubbock.
Trostle's 2003 Alternative Crop
Options After Failed Cotton and Late-Season Crop Planting for
the Texas South Plains provides more information on these crops,
as well as some summer forages. It is
available from local county Extension offices, and on the
Internet at
http://lubbock.tamu.edu under the "What's New" section.
"First, check the label of any
cotton herbicide you've already applied. The label will list any
crop rotation restrictions that might affect your replanting
options. Cotton herbicides such as Treflan, Prowl, Caparol,
Cotoran, Karmex, Diuron and Staple can cause carryover herbicide
injury to some crops," Trostle said. "One option in that
scenario is to set the planter to break-out and remove the
herbicide-treated soil, so the new seed is planted in untreated
soil.
"That's especially true if you'll
be planting grain sorghum after failed cotton. You'll also want
to keep the herbicide-treated soil away from new plants while
cultivating the new crop, for awhile at least. If you applied
Dual herbicide, you can plant safened grain sorghum seed and
have little risk of plant injury."
The cut-off date for planting
medium maturity grain sorghum hybrids falls between June 25 and
July 5, while early maturity hybrids can be planted as late as
July 15. Late-planted grain sorghum is more susceptible to
insect damage, so it may require insecticide applications, the
agronomist added.
"We can plant soybeans as late as
July 10 and still expect to make a crop, even though later
planting reduces yield potential. Farmers should plant early- to
mid-maturity group IV soybeans before June 25, and then switch
to an early group IV or late-maturity group III variety for
later planting," Trostle said. "Later planting retards stalk
growth and can make it hard to harvest the lowest seed pods, but
using a higher seeding rate and narrow rows may encourage higher
pod-set."
Confectionary or oilseed
sunflowers are another option -- contracts for both are readily
available to South Plains farmers, he added.
"Our recommended last planting
dates for oilseed or confectionary sunflowers are June 5 for
producers in Baily, Castro and Parmer counties. That goes to
July 10 in Briscoe, Cochran, Crosby, Floyd, Hale, Hockley, Lamb,
Lubbock, Terry and Yoakum counties. July 15 is the cutoff date
for Andrews, Borden, Dawson, Garza, Gaines, Howard, Lynn,
Martin, Mitchell and Scurry counties," he said. "Oilseed
sunflowers are cheaper to produce than confectionary sunflowers,
and a later planting date can reduce the need to treat for head
moths."
Guar is best suited for dryland
production on ground that has few weed problems. It is tolerant
of yellow herbicides used in cotton production, but there are
few other herbicides available for weed control in this crop,
Trostle said.
"There are three varieties of
Guar available right now. We can plant these as late as July 4
on the South Plains, but June 20 is a more favorable cut-off
planting date," he said. "Under average field conditions,
dryland guar produces between 400 and 1,100 pounds per acre.
Guar seed should be inoculated with guar-specific Rhizobium,
using a sticking agent, for best results."
Drought- and insect-resistant
sesame is another option for producers, from Lubbock south to
Big Spring. Sesame should be planted on 30-inch rows, from late
May to late June; it needs 95 growing days before the first
frost. It can be grown with existing farm equipment, but no
herbicides are labeled for use in sesame. Dryland sesame can
make 500 to 900 pounds per acre, Trostle noted, while irrigated
ground may produce 1,000 to 1,500 pounds per acre.
Peas and beans such as
black-eyes, purple hulls, pink-eye cowpeas, pinto beans and
green beans are also an option, if producers can secure a
production contract.
Producers can get estimated crop
production budgets for several alternate crops from their county
Extension agent.
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