Great Plains Cotton

Rain boosts cotton crops, has wheat farmers optimistic

Range and farmland around Winters, 52 miles northeast of San Angelo, received 2.5 inches Saturday with little to no runoff. The second wave of another 2.5 inches Sunday also soaked in the ground and left standing water, Conner said.

"The rains that followed had good runoff, including putting a freshwater supply in area lakes and stock tanks," he said. "It was wonderful. All of the sweet rain was great and it came with no association of bad weather."

He said some farmers are talking about planting winter wheat earlier — maybe as soon as late August — with hopes of having some grazing for livestock in late fall.

Normally, farmers in the 12-county Southern Rolling Plains plant about 225,000 acres of cotton annually. Before planting time last spring, early predictions were pushing this year's crop higher, but as the drought crept in, most farmers retreated by planting fewer acres or none at all. For many, a $300 bag of seed was too risky.

"We expect to produce about one-tenth, or about 22,000 bales of cotton, across the whole Southern Rolling Plains region this year," Conner told me this week. "I'm guessing there is around 15,000 acres which might yield an average one and a third bale per acre. That compares to a normal average of more than two bales per acre. There are approximately 2,000 acres of dryland left that might make one-third to one-half bale per acre."

The Southern Rolling Plains region comprises Tom Green, Runnels, Concho, Coke, Coleman, Brown, McCulloch, Mason, Menard, Irion, Schleicher and southern Taylor counties.

There were 187,048 bales produced in the Southern Rolling Plains region in 2010. The harvested acreage was about 215,000 acres, resulting in an average yield of about 435 pounds per acre.

High Plains cotton growers face irrigation decisions | Cotton ...

With the dog days of summer in full force and reports of deteriorating crop conditions becoming more and more prevalent, cotton producers on the Texas High Plains are in the process of deciding when to terminate irrigation activities. It is also bringing many growers to the realization that their crop essentially has matured to the point that it has set all of the potential yield it can and may not be worth carrying to harvest.

For growers in the latter situation, crop insurance rules permit the initiation of boll count appraisals as soon as the crop can be determined to have reached the "mature" stage of development. In crop insurance parlance, cotton has reached the "mature" stage when it is determined that it "has set all of the bolls that will contribute to the ultimate yield."

Even though the calendar says it is only August 12, this year's drought has put many irrigated acres at this stage of development. Growers wanting to have their crops evaluated using the boll count method should contact their insurance provider, indicate the stage of the crop in question and request an appraisal be scheduled.

At the other end of the spectrum are producers who have crops that are at or near the mature stage, but still have enough yield potential that it is unlikely to be failed after a boll count appraisal, or are still actively blooming and setting bolls. In these instances, the decision for the grower is how long they need to continue irrigation to finish out the last of their yield or if they are already past cutout by several days, when they need to terminate irrigation to the crop.

In order to assist with those decisions, Dr. Mark Kelley and Dr. Wayne Keeling of the Texas AgriLife Extension Service have produced a timely reference document entitled, appropriately enough, "Texas High Plains 2011Cotton Irrigation Termination." Growers considering irrigation termination are advised to follow their usual management keys in relation to the maturity level of the crop and how long it is expected to take to mature the last of the bolls they will carry to harvest.

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