Genesis 8 ¹ But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded. ² Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens had been closed, and the rain had stopped falling from the sky. ³ The water receded steadily from the earth

So much for a 39% increase in Tennessee cotton acreage for 2011! Approximately 60,000 acres of farmland along the Mississippi, Obion, Forked Deer, Hatchie and Wolf Rivers will be underwater by May 1^st. Mississippi River levels at Tiptonville, TN and Caruthersville, MO will exceed the 1937 record level of 47.8  feet and 46 feet, respectively. Read more about the effect of flood water on northwest TN at the Dyersburg State Gazette (www.stategazette.com). Please keep our fellow ‘Volunteers’ in your thoughts and prayers.

How late can we plant cotton in Tennessee?

With excessive rainfall putting an end to early cotton planting, just how late can we plant cotton and still produce acceptable yields? The first thing to remember is that if you plan to insure your cotton it must be planted by May 20^th. Planting after this date has production guarantee reduced by an additional 1% each day during the late planting period for up to 25 days. Provision for prevented planting may also be in place and vary based on your purchased level of coverage.

Research from the past three growing season with 16 different cotton varieties indicates that optimal yields are achieved when cotton is planted between April 25th and May 10^th (See figure below). This is an extremely narrow window to get half a million acres planted. What I can tell you is that UT Extension recommends April 20th as the first acceptable planting date. Cotton planted after May 10th is subject to less heat unit accumulation, higher temperatures and dryer conditions during flowering and can be subject to less favorable harvest conditions in the fall. UT research indicates that when planting after May 10th on average yields decrease by 11 pounds for each day until May 20th. After May 20th yields decrease by 18 pounds per day until June 1st. After June 1st yields decrease by 29 pounds per day! The anomoly that is seen with the April 20th planting date is that cotton planted on this date each of the three years experience ‘backberry winter’ or heavy rains that reduced populations and yield.

 How low can you go? Plant populations for optimal cotton production.

With some producers attempting to get back into cotton production after several years, they have been shocked by seed and technology prices. The question keeps being asked about how low of a plant population can produce maximum yield? I will direct you to the research conducted by Chism Craig in 2004 related to planting dates and populations. http://www.utextension.utk.edu/fieldCrops/cotton/ResearchReports/2005%20Planting%20Date-Craig.pdf. The short version is that a final population of 1 or 5 plants per row foot yield similarly while 3 plants per row foot out yield both 1 and 5 plants per row foot regardless of whether the variety was early versus late maturing or determinate versus indeterminate. Additionally, you should note that earlier planting regardless of plant stand resulted in higher yields than late planting. The following table will give an idea of per acre plant populations based on plants per row foot at different row configurations.

When considering replants, and early plant crop with a uniform population of 1 plant per row foot yield as well or better than 3 or 5 plants per row foot replanted 2 or 4 weeks later with the key word being ‘uniform’ population. Large in row skips of plants will not perform as well as a later replant.

Plant populations at various row spacings.