The ‘turn’ this year wasn’t much of a turn at all- it was more like a crash. In this blog, I give a few last minute thoughts on the crop, provide the preferred concoction that I would use on our earliest planted acres that will receive harvest aids, and highlight content we will cover in depth at the upcoming Cotton Tour Sept. 9 (next Wednesday). Continue reading
The tentative agenda for the 2026 Cotton Tour has been set! Content this year will cover information on cultivar water use efficiency, seedling diseases, defoliation recommendations for 2026, new findings from the weed control team, and updates on insect control, just to mention a few. We will have Cajun Cookers close the event with lunch. Come join us at the West Tennessee Research and Education Center (605 Airways Blvd Jackson, TN 38301) Sept. 9th from 8AM-12PM.
The typical trial data release post on this blog contains little narrative. This post is not a typical one. In addition to providing the links to the 2025-2026 Tennessee Wheat Official Variety Trial Publication, I also recognize the efforts of both Dr. Dennis West and Mr. David R. Kincer for their combined 90+ years of service to Tennessee growers. Additionally, I briefly share the future plans for the program. Continue reading
As we approach the historical last effective bloom dates later this month, I thought it might be appropriate to look at Tennessee’s 2026, relative to the past ten years. In this blog, I briefly cover our season and make some comments on what to expect in the coming weeks.
Scattered rains have accumulated over the past week, with many receiving several inches or more. With even more rain in the forecast and many of our acres quickly entering their second and third week of bloom, the question of the week has been what to do with plant growth regulators. In contrast to previous years, the introduction of the active plinazolin (Vertento) has created a more interesting question- what can we do, from a plant growth regulator standpoint, to take full advantage of the long residual control window provided by this new product? In this blog, I outline the best approach to balance a possible opportunity to save an application cost with the risk of being too aggressive. Continue reading
The MidSouth Cotton Specialists’ Working Group has just released the 2026 Cotton Variety Guide for Plant Growth Regulation and a more in-depth publication entitled Plant growth regulator use in Mid-South Cotton.
I planted my first cotton trial this year on April 13th. That trial protocol specifically requested an early plant date into adverse conditions. But with the temperatures and general lack of rainfall in the forecast through the second and third weeks of April, we continued planting. Here on the 14th day of May, my crew has only a few small and large plot trials remaining before we get to our late-planted trial work, slated for the first week in June. Most fields in the mid-April window have come up to acceptable stands. Some fields planted closer to the first of May- right in front of what I hope was our one and only blackberry winter for 2026- caught both cool temperatures and rainfall events in excess of 1″. A few of those fields have been very slow to emerge, and some are moving to replant those fields now. Continue reading
Below I have linked the presentations from this year’s Cotton Focus. Many, many thanks to each of the speakers for delivering what many reported was the most valuable program we’ve had in recent memory. Continue reading