Category Archives: Irrigation

New publication: Guide to Earliness Management in Short-season Cotton Production

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Tennessee cotton is finally ‘growing off’.  Still, here on the 3rd day of July, it appears few farms will reach the coveted ‘bloom by the 4th’.  Although the environment has played a dominate role in maturity up to this point, management decisions emphasizing earliness have been particularly useful in 2015.  This marks the third consecutive year in which managing for earliness has a marked effect on crop maturity by early July. earliness_2015_TN

On the heels of last year’s delayed crop, Dr. Owen Gwathmey and I began discussing potential benefits of managing a cotton crop for earliness and the management practices which encourage timely maturity and harvest with colleagues both within and beyond the University of Tennessee.  We have summarized these thoughts in the attached Guide to Earliness Management in Short-season Cotton Production (PB1830)Continue reading


Plant growth management of new cotton varieties

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IMG_1085Rains and warmer temperatures have promoted rapid growth over the past week.  Now that the root zone has expanded and N uptake has increased exponentially, expect very rapid plant growth in areas which have adequate moisture as we move into flowering.  For those who have not applied an early shot of a plant growth regulator (PGR), you should consider doing so very soon.  Several points should be considered when attempting to regulate growth in 2015. Continue reading


Basic Irrigation Needs of Corn, Beans and Grain Sorghum

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Dry weather has already plagued some parts of the state.  We do have some likely rains in the forecast, but for those who miss rain once again this weekend and are thinking about turning on the irrigators, included are some basic irrigation amounts for corn, soybeans and grain sorghum. Continue reading


2015 TN Cotton Quick Facts

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w319With snow in the forecast, I hope you find some warmth in our hot-off-the-press 2015 Tennessee Cotton Quick Facts Publication (W 319) which is now available online.  New this year are digital hyperlinks to all full-length UTIA publications.  Simply click on the grey boxes or related QR codes describing the publication in which you are interested and your browser will do the rest. Keep losing your guide or tired of carrying paper guides around? Open this document with the reader on your mobile device (if Apple, your iBooks app) to have a digital copy at your fingertips at all times.  Hyperlinks will still work!

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2014 TN Cotton Variety Trial Results

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pb1742_picThe 2014 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, 2015 TN Cotton Variety Guide (W285), which was released a few weeks ago.

The tech-trait diversity in the top performers highlights the excellent yield potential, stability and fiber quality currently available in commercial cultivars irregardless of tech platform.   Given many of these currently-available varieties have been moved forward into new tech-trait platforms, it appears producers will be deciding between several very viable options for many years to come. Continue reading


Defoliation Timing in 2014

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20140827_17There comes a point late in the season where defoliation timing begins to lean more heavily on the forecast and historical temperature normals associated with the current date than our maturity measurements (NACBs, %open, uppermost harvestable boll maturity as determined by the sharp-knife technique, etc.).  In West Tennessee, I would argue that we are very rapidly approaching that time frame.  The 5 day forecast here on the 28th day of Sept. for West TN indicates the next few days appear to be very favorable Continue reading


Cotton Yield Monitoring with the Case-IH and Deere Pickers

focus on cottonDr. Mike Buschermohle and Lori Duncan with the University of Tennessee have just released a new Focus On Cotton webinar covering the topic of cotton yield monitoring from the Deere platform.  This timely, very informative release was accompanied by another webinar by Dr. Pedro Andradé-Sanchez  with the University of Arizona covering cotton yield monitoring from the Case-IH platform (links below).  As we inch closer to this harvest season I would encourage you to visit the Focus on Cotton website and watch these videos.  Continue reading