



“I hate to be too much of an optimist, but retention is in the high 90s, which is almost unheard of. Plant bug populations have moved in and out in south Arkansas, but we're finally about over the hump on them.”

The crop is starting to cut out and insect sprays are being terminated on many fields, according to Barber, “but I don't know that cutting out this early is a bad thing because north of Marianna, the plant is really fruited up. A lot of people are trying to push it, to keep it from cutting out early. But I don't know that we're cutting out early. We have a lot of nodes with a lot of bolls.”


“We're fortunate to have that kind of weather, but I think we're going to start seeing a little more shed in the upper part of the plant as our nighttime temperatures warm up a little.”

Another factor for this year's good yield potential is that growers started irrigating early. “That's what set this crop up so well. Growers weren't afraid to irrigate early. That means a lot.”

Plant bug infestations have been the biggest bugaboo for growers this season, Barber notes. “Once it hit, it was constant, worse than we've seen in a while. We haven't seen the populations up north that we've seen in the south. Some people have had to spray six or seven times for plant bugs down south.”

Angus Catchot, Mississippi Extension entomologist, reports that the Mississippi Hill crop “is one of the best I've ever seen. It's holding a lot of fruit and we've had relatively few pest sprays on it, so it hasn't been as expensive a crop. It seemed to hold up well during the drought. Then we started getting the rains and now it looks real good. We still have some areas in the northeast part of the state that need a rain.


Still, most of the cotton is definitely above average, according to Catchot. “Rain has been spotty and producers have not been able to rely on the forecast the last few days, so we're irrigating. The majority of the crop is approaching cutout, and we have a lot that is right at NAWF-5 right now.”

Crops in west Tennessee and the Missouri Bootheel have had a tougher time dealing with drought. “It's hard to make an assessment since we've been so dry,” said Dunklin County, Mo., Extension agent Mike Milam. “A lot of the dryland cotton doesn't look good and I've seen it wilted down during the middle of the day.”

On the other hand, Milam says, some producers believe at this stage, they have the best cotton crop they've ever had. “But a lot depends on what happens the rest of the year. A lot of farmers have a lot of money invested in this crop.


Milam said the area has received a significant number of heat units so far compared to years past. “In 2003, we had 952 DD-60s on July 15, compared to 1,211 in 2004, 1,040 in 2005, and 1,048 in 2006. This year, we're at 1,495 DD-60s. It takes about 2,000 to raise a crop, so we still have a long way to go.”