By Clint Thompson
The Georgia Cotton Commission and University of Georgia (UGA) Extension encourage producers to take advantage of weather conditions this week. Warmer temperatures provide more advantageous conditions for growers looking to defoliate and harvest their crop.
Camp Hand, UGA Extension cotton agronomist, talks about that issue.
“It’s going to be a little bit warmer this week, so if you hadn’t defoliated any cotton, then this week is the time to do it. I don’t know that it’s going to warm back up after this week,” Hand said. “Next week, it’s supposed to get down into the 70s again and supposed to stay there. As warm as it is this week, our defoliants are going to work a little bit better. It’s not going to cost as much. We can use some lower rates, and thus it’s not going to cost as much. We can get out there and defoliate our crop and 10 to 14 days be in there picking it.”
Hand said Georgia growers are behind in harvesting this year. He said only about 20% has been harvested. Producers have been delayed in waiting for the peanut crop to finish. But it’s created a backlog of cotton that has yet to be picked. “Based on what I read (Monday) from the USDA, it looks like we’re 10% behind. That puts us 120,000 acres behind what we usually are,” Hand said.
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