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ing season and low-input production systems. The entire cotton boll (carpels and seed cotton) is removed from the stalk and unwanted plant trash is separated at the gin. Strippers are used exclusively where tight-bolled, storm-proof cotton varieties are grown. Picker harvesting is used in areas with long growing seasons and longer staple cotton. Pickers remove only the seed cotton (fiber and seeds), which results in less trash but higher harvest costs. While some West Texas growers simply wait for the cotton to freeze out, then strip it, research indicates the cost of prepping and desiccating cotton far offsets the cost of not doing so. In our experience, it almost always pays to open the bolls, then kill the plant and pick when cotton is fully mature, rather than waiting for weather to determine when the optimum time is to pick, Aljoe says. In some cases, organophosphate desiccants are used, but it is critical to remove all the green from cotton before it is stripped. A new material, fluthiacet-methyl, is currently being tested, and combines boll opening and removes juvenile foliage and suppresses regrowth for an extended period of time during the harvest period. We typically will use ethephon on two to three fields, or enough for a grower to strip in three to four days, and then come back with more fields. If we get freeze warnings, we stop treatment on mature fields and move to immature fields to try and open as many bolls as we can before the freeze hits, Aljoe says. Kyle Aljoe While growers in the High Plains of Texas are still hoping for three- to four-bale cotton on their irrigated acreage, most growers in Oklahoma are just hoping to salvage a decent cotton crop. We had a good-looking crop up until late July. Then we started losing fruit load with intense heat and drought conditions, says Crop Quest agronomist Howard Bartel. Many of our growers will get cotton out early and plant wheat for rotational purposes, if possible, he concludes. For most growers with these dry conditions, opening bolls is not a big concern. Because of the dry weather, we will use more desiccants, primarily to save costs. In the better cotton in our area, we will use an organophosphate desiccant, along with ethephon. We are tending to go to higher rates of ethephon and reduced OP materials on our better cotton, Bartel concludes. Regardless of whether cotton is stripped or picked, three-bale or one-bale potential, getting a field ready for harvesting is critical, both in terms of maximizing yield and quality and in reducing costs associated with damage to pickers and strippers. Getting it right requires some careful planning and good management.
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Every year, Crop Quest agronomists get in touch with their current clients to sign a crop service agreement to continue their agronomic services for another crop season. For many of the consultants, this is the most difficult part of their career due to the fear of rejection or the potential loss of acres. Our agronomists are trained very well in the technical and agronomic sciences, but most do not consider themselves to be salesmen, even though they receive training in this area. Early sign-up or contract signing is something we highly encourage for all our farmer/clients. Even though Crop Quest does benefit due to fewer trips (less fuel cost) when the clients sign early, the real benefit is for the farmers themselves. Long-term planning is one of the key factors in a successful crop management plan. By signing early, it gives the agronomists the time that your farm deserves for developing a successful cropping plan. Soil sampling is absolutely essential in knowing what nutrient levels are present in your soil and to plan ahead for timing, application and the kind of fertilizers most economical for your operation. Most fertilizers have to be broken down by microbes or chemical reactions into their usable forms that the
plant roots are capable of absorbing. When the process is delayed, the crop is put at risk due to nutrient deficiency or the nutrient may be partially lost due to improper timing. Crop Quest agronomists spend considerable time in understanding the crops that have been selected, to see if they are the best choices for the soil type, pH, usage (high moisture, ensilage, dry grain), disease tolerance or resistance, stress tolerance, planting characteristics including early vs. late seeding, and the many other concerns that are associated with the planting of a particular crop. These are not decisions that should be made on the spur of the moment or to wait until the crop is ready to be planted. A successful crop management plan is one which the farmer and agronomist develop over a period of months. This discussion should include cropping alternatives, rotations, nutrient requirement, hybrid or variety selection, water requirement, potential crop usage, economic budgets, planting method (no-till, strip-till, conventional-till, conservation-till, ridge-till), herbicide and insecticide selection, interactions and carryover concerns and etc. In order to have time to assist our clients in these important decisions, we really encourage the farmers to let their agronomists know early their intentions of continuing with our agronomic services. The best way to accomplish this is by signing the contract early to remove the frustration of time and expense in the commitment that has to be made before our agronomists are able to devote their time and energy into your management plan. We very much appreciate each farmers business in the past and thank all who have participated in our early sign-up program. When our agronomists approach you to continue our services for another year, know that it is mostly for your benefit that they are asking.
Reasonable Expectations
By: Jim Gleason Regional Vice President St. John, Kan. With all of the technology traits in the seeds that are available today, farmers are faced with more choices than ever before. These traits offer management options for controlling corn borer, rootworms and weeds. They are being offered as individual traits or are stacked in various combinations. This technology is easy to use since it is bred into the seed; however, this convenience comes at a cost. With this increased cost of the seed comes a higher expectation of performance as well. One of the traits that have been adopted fairly quickly has been the Roundup Ready trait. It is available in corn, soybeans, cotton, canola and alfalfa. A glyphosate-based system has given producers a chance to have clean fields fairly inexpensively, and we have come to expect clean fields with a couple of chemical applications. With all of the generic glyphosate products available, the price of the chemical is one-third of what it was just a few years ago. The cheap chemicals are nice when they work. Cheap chemicals have less product representation. The major manufacturers still offer brand-name glyphosate, but were forced to compete with a lower price. They still have representation out in the country, but in far fewer numbers than they were in the past. Since they are spread thinner, they try to do most of the product performance claims by telephone or e-mail rather than come walk the field. The generic and house brand chemicals have never had good product support and that is one of the reasons they have been priced lower. More of the risk of poor performance is carried by the producer with these cheaper products. The applicator doesnt have anyone to call when a treatment fails. There is an increasing reluctance for applicators to apply these nonsupported chemicals. They usually offer these as producer-applied products since they dont come with much support. The discovery of glyphosate-resistant water hemp has been confirmed in Missouri recently. With this discovery, the approach of weed control programs needs to change as well. Water hemp is in the pigweed (amaranth) family and is a common weed in the eastern High Plains. This weed used to be controlled by glyphosate, but with this chemical being used on more acres and crops for a number of years, resistance has developed in water hemp in Missouri. We are seeing this weed move farther west every year and it has the potential to bring this resistance trait with it. That will increase the cost of weed control programs if it does. In the past, there have been other chemicals that quit working. When one quit working, we had another one to switch to. By rotating between chemical families and modes of action, we were able to have pretty good weed control performance. Since there have not been a lot of new chemicals discovered in the last few years, we will be doing more tank mixes of old products to keep this resistance from spreading. We will need to rotate between chemicals. The cost of our weed control will increase because of tank mixing and the performance may not be as good as we have come to expect. We will have to adjust our expectations to what is reasonable.
Roundup Ready is a registered trademark of Monsanto Company.
Crop Quest is an employee-owned company dedicated to providing the highest quality agricultural services for each customer. The quest of our network of professionals is to practice integrity and innovation to ensure our services are economically and environmentally sound.
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Crop Quest Agronomic Services, Inc. Main Office: Phone 620.225.2233 Fax 620.225.3199 Internet: www.cropquest.com cqoffice@cropquest.com