One of the main questions cotton growers in Southeast Georgia must answer following Hurricane Debby is whether to use an airplane or ground rig to make future chemical applications.
It is not an easy decision for producers to make and will differ from farmer to farmer. The Georgia Cotton Commission and University of Georgia Extension Cotton Team, including agronomist Camp Hand, provide guidance on how growers should approach this pivotal management decision.
“The big thing first and foremost is availability. On the east side of the state, there’s not near as many pilots as there are, if you look up around Dooly County or even down around Miller County. Those guys use airplanes a lot. Over on the east side of the state, that’s just not as prevalent,” Hand said. “The second thing is, if you’re paying a (financial) note on a sprayer, it’s hard for you to justify spending money for an airplane to come spray.
“In terms of the crop, people start wondering about how much damage they’re going to do by running over it if it’s laid down. I don’t know that there’s an exact number of percent lodging that you see that makes you think, this is when I use an airplane instead of a ground rig. I told an agent, if it is the level of concern that a grower is calling, asking how much he will lose from using a ground rig opposed to an aerial application, then it’d probably be best just to do the aerial application and not risk it.”
Growers are likely to lose money no matter what approach they make.
“You can run over cotton and cut your yield a little bit, or you can spend the money on an aerial applicator. In some cases, it might just be swapping money,” Hand said.
By Clint Thompson
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