By Clint Thompson
The Georgia Cotton Commission and University of Georgia Extension Cotton Team encourage growers to take action prior to sub-freezing temperatures expected to impact the region early next week.
Temperatures are expected to plummet into the 20s Monday night and stay below freezing on Tuesday. That is cause for concern for cotton growers who are in the midst of harvesting this year’s crop, says Camp Hand, University of Georgia Extension cotton agronomist.
“The big thing right now is this freeze that’s coming in on Monday and Tuesday. If you hadn’t defoliated cotton, you need to defoliate as much as you can. Especially with bolls that need to get open, you need to put some stuff on that before this freeze sets in just to get it moving,” Hand said.
“Since it’s a hard freeze and it’s going to get down to 27 (degrees Fahrenheit), 28, 26 statewide, there’s certainly some concerns about bolls that have not opened if they haven’t been sprayed and aren’t cracking. If that freeze sets in on green bolls, they will not open. That’s the big concern, trying to get the Ethephon and whatever out there before that freeze sets in to try to get more open than you have right now.”
Hand estimated between 50% and 60% of Georgia’s cotton crop has been harvested.
“With as many peanuts as we had and to be that far along (with cotton harvesting), that’s pretty good,” Hand said.