If I were to ignore the calendar, I’d rate Tennessee’s cotton crop as above average.  Another half inch of rain would be nice, but considering, it appears things are progressing nicely.  Unfortunately, we are staring at the last effective bloom date with fewer fruiting branches and subsequently fewer bolls on each plant than I’ve observed since I arrived in Tennessee.  In this blog, I highlight a few decisions which we will have to make in the coming weeks and reasons why this crop may fail to fall within the same yield ranges we’ve observed in recent years. Continue reading →

The West Tennessee Research and Education Center (WTREC) would like to cordially invite you to the 2021 University of Tennessee Cotton Tour.  This event is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 1st at the WTREC (605 Airways Blvd., Jackson, TN 38301).  Registration will begin at 8:00 a.m. with the tour departing at 8:30.  The tour will end at noon with lunch. University of Tennessee Extension and Research personnel from across the state will be presenting on a wide range of topics including: variety testing, including updates on ThryvOn; fungicides and target spot; weed and resistance management; defoliation; insect control; market outlook; and drought mitigation, just to mention a few.  Pesticide Re-certification and CCA points will be available.

Cajun Express will be catering the event with fried catfish and chicken.  Come join us Wednesday morning to pick up some useful information and eat a great meal right before dove season opens!

July rains and a rain on the first of August supported rapid growth in many areas.  Over the past few days,  two of the most common questions have become, ‘How much mepiquat chloride is needed to slow growth?’ and ‘should I also include Stance in the application?’  In this article, we highlight some interesting results from a preliminary study conducted during 2020. Continue reading →

In the past 10 days, the TN cotton crop appears to have turned the corner.  Still, most all our acres classify as ‘late’, with the majority of the crop planted after the 15th of May.  That in itself isn’t too troubling, but the failure of late May and early June to provide any decent growing conditions delayed our crop even more.  A long fall would correct most all issues, but I’ve not had much luck slowing time or changing the weather.  Fortunately, we can take a few management strategies in the coming weeks to partially mitigate our painfully slow start to this season.  In this blog, I highlight management decisions in three areas that can help us emphasize earliness- fertility, plant growth and plant bugs. Continue reading →

We kicked off the 2021 Cotton Focus Video Series with two videos from Dr. Scott Stewart.  To wrap the event up, we are providing a final video covering plant bugs from Dr. Stewart.

Dr. Stewart’s video can be accessed below or by clicking here.  Again, thanks to everyone for tuning in and a special thanks to our speakers!

Thanks to all of our presenters who contributed to the 2021 Cotton Focus Video Series!

For those interested in points, please make sure to watch all videos (posted at utcrops.com/cotton, click the link and scroll down to the bottom of the page) and then complete the quiz which can be found here. The quiz password is 2021.

Have you recently found yourself thumbing through fiber quality data wondering, ‘how do they generate this data, and what does it all mean, again?’  In the last 2021 Cotton Focus Video Series entry, I give a brief walk-through of the University of Tennessee MicroGin and highlight a publication from last year by Steve Brown and Tyler Sandlin (Auburn University) covering explaining the process of fiber development and fiber quality.  I also highlight results from a recent MidSouth Cotton Specialists’ effort which re-evaluated the role of variety selection, the environment and management on realized fiber quality.    Continue reading →