By Clint Thompson
Photo by Peggy, USDA/ARS.
The Georgia Cotton Commission (GCC) and University of Georgia (UGA) Cotton Team remind growers about the importance of early-season pest management. Camp Hand, UGA Extension cotton agronomist, provides producers tips that should help their crop continue to flourish.
“Conditions have been fantastic. A lot of the folks that I’m talking to say it might be the best stand they’ve had in a really long time,” Hand said. “If you’re planting right now, we’re out of the thrips window. For those with the planting date around May 10, I’d probably be looking at some cotton for thrips sprays.
“Of course, you want to stay on top of your weed management. I’ve heard a lot of reports of some seedling disease. Luckily, it’s nothing too bad where a lot of our growers have had to replant anything. But be aware of things like that and putting a shadow on your crop, making sure your stand is good. If you weren’t able to plant into good conditions, make sure you’ve got a good stand there. If you do need to replant, go ahead and get that done.”
According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, approximately 68% of Georgia’s crop was planted by May 28. “We’ve really taken advantage of the environmental conditions that we were dealt with. Normally, it’s dry in May. It hits the point where it quits raining and gets hot. It’s done that the last couple of years,” Hand said. “This is the first one since I’ve been in this position where we’ve got pretty regular rains across the state. I think we’ve been able to take advantage of that and get off to a really good start.”
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