Category Archives: Irrigation

Cotton Planting Forecast

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I’ve spoken with several who planted a few fields last week.  Soils have been a little cooler than we would prefer but it was hard to keep the planter at the shop with 60+ degree soil temperatures at 3” at 8 AM with warm temperatures in the forecast.  Moisture is currently not hard to find in most areas given you caught some of the showers Continue reading


2015 TN Cotton Variety Trial Results

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PB1742The 2015 TN Cotton Variety Trial Results Publication (PB1742) is now available online. This document contains detailed results from all harvested trails in the 2014 University of Tennessee Cotton Variety Testing program.  This expanded publication follows the recently published summary publication, 2016 TN Cotton Variety Guide (W285), which was released a few weeks ago. Continue reading


Keep soil compaction in mind while harvesting

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September has been warmer and drier than normal but rain is in the forecast over the next few days.  The first report of picking in TN came in late last week and we should be in full-picking-mode after this rain moves through.  Still, there is more to getting back into the field than just waiting for the bolls to dry and ground to ‘hold up’.  With the adoption of the new module-building pickers, the weight of our equipment has increased to record levels.  Continue reading


Last Effective Bloom Date: how is it calculated and what does it mean?

IMG_1876By definition, the last effective bloom date is the day in which the probability of a new flower developing into a boll and making its way into the basket declines to below 50%.  Since it is unlikely (probability less than 50%) that fruiting positions which develop after this date will contribute to yield, end-of-season insecticide termination and defoliation recommendations for our area are based upon protecting/managing  those positions which will be flowering Continue reading


Cotton Progress/Heat Unit Accumulation for 2015

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A rough start for many of TN’s cotton acres has turned into a decent summer for the majority of our acreage.  This is very evident when looking at accumulated heat units noted at the West Tennessee Research and Education Center in Jackson, TN.  As you can see in the below graph, we are quite a bit ahead of the last two years on accumulated heat units.  Warm temperatures in mid/late June and timely rains have Continue reading