Late blooms might not make it
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Cotton Specialist, Lubbock
Parts of the region received rain from Sunday through Tuesday. According to the West Texas Mesonet, areas from Cochran and Hockley counties northeast toward Hall County picked up anywhere from a trace to as much as 0.7 inches. Rain amounts included 0.62 in Sundown, 0.57 around Whitharral and Anton, 0.31 in Abernathy, 0.6 in Floydada, 0.70 in Tulia, and 0.41 in Memphis.
“I have been tracking drip irrigated research plots we planted late on June 6 at the AgriLife AG-CARES station outside of Lamesa. It struggled coming up due to a lack of good planting moisture. But it is progressing well after its establishment. As of yesterday (Aug. 8), we were at six to seven NAWF with good yield potential. I know this does not reflect the cotton in most of the region but looking at a good cotton crop always brings a smile to my face. Hopefully, it will do the same for someone else,” Maeda said.
We are approaching the last effective bloom dates for our region in another two weeks or so. After about Aug. 25, we historically tend to see a sharp reduction in the number of blooms that will make it to a harvestable boll. This is shorter by about 10 days or so for growers north in the Texas Panhandle.
The latest USDA crop progress report estimates 14% of the Texas cotton crop is in good condition, with 86% rated fair, poor or very poor. This compares to 25% good or excellent and 75% fair, poor or very poor in the previous report.
Despite the scattered nature of the rain events earlier this week, there are more rain chances in the forecast. While this is late for much of the crop, especially the dryland, every little bit helps alleviate the drought, so we won’t complain.”