By Clint Thompson
The Georgia Cotton Commission (GCC) and University of Georgia Extension recommend dryland cotton producers be mindful of how deep they are planting their seed this spring. Hot and dry conditions are rampant across Southeast Georgia and should worsen this week.
Growers can endanger their seed if it is planted too shallow. This is according to Wes Porter, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension precision agriculture and irrigation specialist.
“If we’re planting dryland, we really need to consider what our forecast looks like, what our soil moisture looks like and make some decisions there. On the planter settings from that perspective, I know a lot of times we want to go pretty shallow and try to catch light rainfalls. But a lot of our studies and work have shown that we need to be careful of that, especially if it’s hot,” Porter said. “We’ve got warm temperatures predicted in the 90s in the near future. If we put that seed too shallow, we can burn that seed. We actually would be better off putting it a little bit deeper closer to that inch mark to catch whatever soil moisture is there and be buffered by soil temperature some.”
Abnormally dry and moderately dry conditions are concentrated across the southeastern region of the state, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. According to weather.com, temperatures in Tifton, Georgia are expected to reach in the mid-90s this week.