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Texas: south plains cotton thriving in face of harsh weather
Lubbock, Texas
July 6, 2004

The 3.6 million-acre South Plains cotton crop has so far survived a gamut of harsh weather since producers broke out their planters in May. Rain, hail, wind, blowing sand and lack of rainfall in some areas have taken an estimated 100,000 acres of the crop.

Even so, a Texas Cooperative Extension agronomist says the bigger picture is pretty bright.

"We have seen cooler, wetter conditions with higher humidity during the past two weeks, but the crop is still above normal in heat unit accumulation," said Randy Boman, Extension cotton agronomist based at Lubbock. "The rainfall from recent storms has put the crop north of Lubbock in very good to excellent condition.

"We do have some ragged-up cotton out there, but by and large, most fields are doing very well. In my eight seasons at Lubbock, I haven't seen overall stands and crop conditions as impressive as they are now. Many fields that were planted in a timely manner in May are now squaring."

Texas farmers planted approximately 6 million acres of cotton this year, from the Rio Grande Valley near Brownsville to the Texas-New Mexico border in the west, and as far north as some counties near Amarillo.

The 20-county area surrounding Lubbock is often know as "the world's largest cotton patch," because farmers there typically plant more than 3 million acres of upland cotton each year. Approximately 10 percent of that acreage, never makes it to harvest due to weather, insects, disease or other causes.

Wind, driving rain and hailstorms in June took about 85,000 acres of cotton in Randall, Castro, Briscoe, Swisher, Floyd, Hockley and Lamb counties. In contrast, many dryland acres in counties south of Lubbock may be lost, or teetering on the edge of survival, due to lack of rainfall.

"We believe that up to 200,000 acres of dryland cotton south of Lubbock was dry planted and likely did not receive any significant rainfall," Boman said. "Some dryland fields have received little rainfall and may not have emerged to a good stand. The situation is changing daily, as evening thunderstorms continue to work across the region. As we move into July, the cotton calendar is now working against us."

Producers hit by recent storms should carefully evaluate their damaged fields before making any replant decisions, Boman said. There is a host of information on evaluating damaged crops, making replant decisions, and choosing catch crops to replace failed cotton on the Internet at: http://lubbock.tamu.edu.

"Making Replant Decisions" and "2004 Alternative Crop Options After Failed Cotton" in the cotton section of the Lubbock Web site may be particularly helpful for producers with crop damage.

Overall, the 2004 Texas cotton crop is off to a strong start and is progressing well, according to Carl Anderson, Extension economist based at College Station. In the June edition of his monthly "Cotton Market Comments," Anderson rates half the crop in good to excellent condition and only 11 percent as very poor.

About one-third of this year's six-million-acre crop is irrigated and two-thirds is dryland. Excellent sub-soil moisture conditions give the crop a yield potential of at least 5.3 million bales, compared to last year's 4.3-million bales, Anderson said.

Cotton harvest has begun in the Rio Grande Valley, while producers elsewhere are waiting for drier conditions to finish out their growing season. Meanwhile, South Plains producers will be watching the skies for evening storms that could bring more rainfall or crop damage.

A weekly update on crop conditions across the South Plains is available through Extension's "Focus" newsletter – published electronically at http://lubbock.tamu.edu/focus.


College Station, Texas
July 7, 2004

Although cotton in some areas is still lagging behind, in other areas it is gaining momentum in its growth, reports Texas Cooperative Extension.

An estimated 3.6 million acres of cotton planted in the South Plains has survived excessive rain, hail and wind, said Dr. Randal Boman, Extension cotton agronomist in Lubbock. Approximately 100,000 acres did not.

However, most cotton in that area is in very good to excellent condition due to the recent moisture, Boman said.
"We do have some ‘ragged-up' cotton out there, but by and large, most fields are doing very well. In my eight seasons at Lubbock, I haven't seen overall stands and crop conditions as impressive as they are now," he said.
Producers in Lubbock plant more than 3 million acres of cotton each year. However, 10 percent of that acreage never makes it to harvest due to insects, weather and disease.

Dr. Travis Miller, associate department head of soil and crop sciences at Texas A&M University, said about 6 million acres of cotton were planted this year in Texas, a 7 percent increase from 2002 and 2003.

"Part of this increase in acreage planted was due to wet planting conditions for earlier planted crops," he said.
Damage caused to this year's crop by insects no more significant than in years past, he said. Large-scale boll weevil eradication programs have reduced the need for pesticide applications, Miller said.

"The prolonged wet weather damaged quite a few acres of cotton along the mid- to upper coast, resulting in a short, stunted crop that terminated growth early," he said.

Producers are having a hard time replanting because the fields are still soggy, Miller said.

Arlan Gentry, Extension agent in Yoakum County, said about 125,000 to 130,000 acres of cotton were planted there. Drought, extreme heat, high winds and sand have taken their toll on cotton in this area, he said.

Some cotton will have to be replanted, most likely with grain sorghum. Most cotton will be able to rebound, except for some of the dryland fields which are lacking moisture, Gentry said.

According to Galen Chandler, district Extension administrator in Vernon, about 95 percent of the cotton has been planted on the Rolling Plains. Some has been replanted due to excessive rains, but most has the potential to be an excellent crop.
Jose Pena, Extension economist in Uvalde said, "Overall, the crop is making much better progress than last year's drought-stricken crop. Eighty-one percent of this year's crop is rated as fair or better compared to only 64 percent last year's crop at this same time. (The U.S. Department of Agriculture) rates the statewide cotton condition at 70 percent of normal compared with 54 percent last year."

Recent warm, clear weather and good moisture has allowed cotton to make significant progress. Conditions have improved so much that plant growth regulators have been used to help control excessive vegetative growth in some fields, Pena said.

"We have the potential of over two bales per acre cotton in irrigated fields and about one bale per acre in the High Plains planted under dryland conditions," he said.

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