COTTON HARVEST AID RESULTS

Here are the six day ratings for the Cotton Harvest Aid Trial that was established on the Claude Otahal Farm on July 1, 2011.  The cotton variety is FM 955 LLB2 and was treated at 50% open boll with a mean plant height of 28 inches..  The spray application was made between 9 am and 10 am with a spray volume of 11 gal per acre @ 32 psi with Turbo TeeJet 11002 spray tips.The harvest aid application was made with a Spider Sprayer by Gary Schwarzlose of Bayer CropScience.  Ratings were made by Dr. Dan Fromme, Extension Agronomist.

Claude Otahal Farm 2011, Nueces County, Texas, Rated 7/7/11 or 6 DAT

Trt. No.	Treatment Name	Product Rate	Estimated Cost *	Defoliation (%)	Desiccation (%)	GrnLeaf (%)
1	Liquid Dropp	1.6 oz/A	$1.81	60	0	40
2	Liquid Dropp	2.4oz/A	$2.71	75	0	25
3	Liquid Dropp	3.2 oz/A	$3.20	85	0	15
4	Ginstar	1.0 oz/A	$1.76	50	1	49
5	Ginstar	2.0 oz/A	$3.53	85	1	14
6	Ginstar	3.0 oz/A	$5.29	70	2	28
7	Ginstar	4.0 oz/A	$7.06	78	2	20
8	Untreated			15	0	85
9	Liquid Dropp Def/Folex	1.6 oz/A 4.0 oz/A	$3.81	90	1	9
10	Liquid Dropp Aim NIS	1.6 oz/A 1.0     oz/A 0.25 % v/v	$4.13	70	10	20
11	Liquid Dropp ET Crop Oil Concentrate	1.6 oz/A 1.5 oz/A 1.0 % v/v	$7.04	60	15	25
12	Liquid Dropp Ethephon/Prep	1.6 oz/A 16.0 oz/A	$5.31	88	5	7
13	Liquid Dropp Ethephon/Prep	1.6 oz/A 21.0 oz/A	$6.40	85	3	12
14	Liquid Dropp Finish 6 Pro NIS	1.6 oz/A 16.0 oz/A 0.25 % v/v	$10.49	93	5	2
15	Liquid Dropp Finish 6 Pro NIS	1.6 oz/A 21.0 oz/A 0.25 % v/v	$12.99	88	8	4
16	Ginstar Finish 6 Pro NIS	3.0 oz/A 16.0 oz/A 0.25 % v/v	$13.97	77	20	3
17	Ginstar Finish 6 Pro NIS	3.0 oz/A 21.0 oz/A 0.25 % v/v	$16.47	73	25	2
18	Liquid Dropp Ginstar Finish 6 Pro NIS	1.6 oz/A 1.0     oz/A 16.0 oz/A 0.25 % v/v	$12.35	66	30	4
19	Liquid Dropp Ginstar Finish 6 Pro NIS	1.6 oz/A 2.00 oz/A 16.0 oz/A 0.25 % v/v	$14.02	68	30	2
20	Liquid Dropp Ginstar Finish 6 Pro NIS	1.6 oz/A 3.0 oz/A 16.0 oz/A 0.25 % v/v	$15.78	83	15	2
21	Liquid Dropp Def/Folex Ethephon /Prep	1.60 oz/A 4.0 oz/A 16.0 oz/A	$7.31	90	5	5
22	Liquid Dropp Def/Folex Finish 6 Pro NIS	1.6 oz/A 4.0 oz/A 16.0 oz/A 0.25 % v/v	$12.49	94	4	2

*Estimated cost is for educational purposes only and prices listed are not actual “carry out” prices.  References to commercial products or trade names are made with the understanding that no discrimination is intended and no endorsement by the Texas AgriLife Extension Service is implied.

PREPARING COTTON FOR HARVEST

    As we try to wrap up the grain harvest for this year, cotton is maturing fast and it is now time to prepare our cotton crop for harvest.  To be successful in preparing our cotton for harvest we need to consider when to schedule defoliation, have good removal of foliage while at the same time facilitate boll opening and then schedule harvest operations.  Along with all of that, dry, sunny weather is also needed.
    There are several methods that one can use to help determine when to use harvest aids to begin defoliating cotton.  Here is a brief review of the more common defoliation-timing techniques.  The most widely used defoliation-timing method is based on a determination of the total percentage of bolls in the field that have opened.  The most common recommendation for defoliant application occurs when the field has 60 to 70 percent open bolls.
    Another method used to help determine when to defoliate cotton is the node above cracked boll (NACB), which focuses on the unopened portion of the crop.  The NACB is determined by locating the uppermost first-position boll that is cracked open with visible lint and counting the number of main-stem nodes to the uppermost harvest able boll.  Most recommendations suggest defoliation at four NACB.  If however, you have a low plant population or skip-row cotton, research has shown that you could probably wait until you have reached three NACB, as with this type of crop more yield will be coming from outer-position bolls and bolls on vegetative branches.
    The measure of accumulated heat units after cutout is yet another method one can use to help schedule defoliation.  A DD60 is a measure of accumulated heat needed for growth and development using a 60-degree temperature minimum.  Research has shown that defoliation could begin when 850 heat units past cutout have been reached.
    Finally, cotton growers should also visually inspect unopened bolls for maturity.  A boll is considered mature if it is difficult to slice in a cross-section with a knife, and seeds have begun to form a brown or black seed coat.  Once the dark seed coat has formed, defoliation will not affect yield of those bolls adversely.  Depending on temperature, cotton bolls need 40 to 60 days to mature.
    When planning to schedule defoliations, the farm’s harvest capacity should also be considered.  In general, defoliating only acreage that can be harvested within a 12-day period following the defoliation treatment will help reduce exposure of lint to weathering loss and possible grade discounts.  Should weather interfere during this time frame, the regrowth will need to be controlled adding to harvest costs.
    It seems that every year is different in regards to how harvest aids will react to the given cotton crop.  No one harvest aid or tank mix combination is the “silver bullet” for every field and all situations.  Harvest aid selection is often based on prior experience and price.  Thorough canopy coverage is essential for acceptable results with all harvest aids.  The carrier volumes should be between 10 and 15 gallons per acre.  While higher carrier volumes are not convenient, water remains the cheapest thing that you can put in the spray tank.
    I with the help of Gary Schwarzlose of Bayer CropScience established a Harvest Aid Trial this year in some early cotton to evaluate how different treatments will work with this years cotton crop.   The trial is on the Claude Otahal Farm, just southeast of Robstown at the intersection of CR 69 and FM 2826 in the northwest corner.  Defoliation results from this test will be posted in this blog or available in the County Extension Office.

NEW LANDOWNER SERIES TO FOCUS ON WILDLIFE

    Managing your native rangeland to promote good habitat for wildlife is a goal that many hope to attain, yet often many questions arise as to how to best achieve that goal.  Here is your chance to become a better steward of your natural resource by participating in a New Landowner Series focusing on “Wildlife Management” to be held Friday,  July 15, 2011 at the Rob and Bessie Welder Wildlife Foundation refuge eight miles north of Sinton, off  HWY 77 from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
    This educational series will feature discussions by experts on Whitetail Deer, Rio Grande Turkey, and Bobwhite Quail management. In addition site selection and renovation of stock tanks and aquatic weed management will also be discussed.  If you own property, and wish to lease your property for hunting or other options, the leasing option will also be reviewed.
    Registration fee for this session is $20 per person, unless previously paid in the first session.  All those planning to attend should pre-register by contacting the Nueces County Extension Office at 361-767-5223.  This series is being sponsored by the Texas AgriLife Extension Service offices of San Patricio, Nueces, Kleberg, and Jim Wells Counties, and the Welder Wildlife Foundation.

Individuals with disabilities, who require an auxiliary aid, service or accommodation in order to participate in any of the mentioned activities, are encouraged to contact the County Extension Office at 361-767-5223 at least eight days before all programs for assistance.  Educational programs of the Texas AgriLife Extension Service are open to all citizens without regard to race, color, sex, disability, religion, age or national origin.

Cattle and Vitamin A Needs in Drought

In a recent article in the Texas A&M University Beef Cattle Browsing Newsletter, by Dr. Steve Hammack, the following review of  vitamin A needs in cattle was discussed.
    Most of Texas is currently under drought conditions, much of them severe. And this condition has persisted for a long time in some areas. One thing that comes into play during drought that is usually not a problem is Vitamin A deficiency. Cattle can store from two to four months supply of vitamin A in the liver on diets exceeding Vitamin A requirements, basically a little something green. That supply can be exhausted in a drought. How do you supply supplemental vitamin A? My colleague Dr. Ted McCollum, Extension Beef Cattle Specialist at the Texas AgriLife Center in Amarillo, recently summarized supplementation of vitamin A:

• most fortified range/breeder cubes fed at 1-1 1/2 lb/day for dry cows or 1 1/2 - 2 lb/day for lactating cows should provide adequate levels of vitamin A;
• mineral supplements, if fortified with 200,000 units vitamin A/lb, would provide adequate levels when consumed at rates of 2-4 oz/day;
• stability of vitamin A in supplements can be affected by composition of the supplement, source of vitamin A, and length and conditions of storage;
• injectable vitamin A can be used to provide from about 1-3 months reserve, depending on the cow’s stage of production and the concentration and dose of the product.

Supplementation of vitamin A is relatively inexpensive and should be an integral part of drought management.

DROUGHT STRESSED FORAGE COULD HAVE HIGH LEVEL OF NITRATE

    Conditions that we have been experiencing across the state this year, with drought stressed crops like grain sorghum and corn may result in the accumulation of nitrate at levels that are toxic to livestock.  Nitrates naturally occur in most plants. At normal levels, rumen microflora convert ingested nitrates into microbial proteins that are then used by the animal.  When the uptake of nitrates exceeds the rate of use to sustain rapid growth, excessive accumulation may occur, as is the typically the case when plants are stressed due to drought. Moreover, accumulation may be amplified when high rates of nitrogen fertilizer were applied prior to the stress period.
    Nitrate toxicity is often associated with sorghum hybrids, sudangrass, johnsongrass, sorghumsudan hybrids, corn, and carelessweed (pigweed).  If you produce or plan to use any of these crops for hay, testing for nitrates is strongly recommended when the crop is produced under conditions of moisture stress.
    Research at the Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory at Texas A&M University has found that it is safe to feed forage containing 1 percent nitrate (on a dry-matter basis) to healthy ruminants.  Forage with a higher percentage of nitrate could be fed if it is ground and mixed with nitrate-free forage to reduce the overall nitrate levels to less than 1 percent (dry-matter basis).  Forage containing 0.5 to 1 percent nitrate should not be fed to weakened cattle unless your veterinarian has approved it.  The 1 percent nitrate level assumes that cattle are healthy, well conditioned, and being fed a high-energy diet.
    If forages contain too much nitrate the animals cannot complete the conversion
process to protein and nitrite levels build up.  The result is the formation of methhemoglobin which can cause an animal to die from asphyxiation, or lack of oxygen. The animal’s blood turns brown instead of the normal bright red.
    When sampling for nitrates, it is important to remember that nitrate accumulates in the lower stem, and the least is in the leaves.  If sampling corn, grain sorghum, and sorghum-sudangrass standing forage, create a composite sample from plant parts taken from at least 10 to 15 areas with the same fertility and moisture conditions. Do not mix plants from “good” and “bad” parts of the field. Create different composite samples for these areas. Ship samples to the laboratory in clean paper sacks. Do not use plastic bags because the high moisture content will cause the samples to mold, which interferes with the nitrate analysis.
    To sample corn, grain sorghum and sorghum-sudangrass in bales, the bale must be split open and the lower stems of individual plants must be collected. If the bale is going to be ground before it is going to be fed, then representative core samples can be taken with a bale probe.
Samples can be submitted to the Texas AgriLife Extension Service Soil, Water,
and Forage Testing Laboratory. Submittal forms are available online at http://soiltesting.tamu.edu

COTTON WORKSHOP -FOCUS ON HARVEST PREPARATION

    The third in a series of Gulf Coast Cotton Management Workshops will be held on Thursday, July 7, 2011 at the Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center on Hwy. 44 just west of the Corpus Christi Airport.  The focus of this workshop will be the “Preparing the Crop for Harvest.”  This series offers producers the opportunity to ask questions and interact with industry representatives, consultants, AgriLife Extension and Research personnel.  With cotton prices currently at record levels, it is important to fine tune cotton production needs to be as efficient as possible to take advantage of the excellent prices.   This workshop is designed to provide local cotton growers with tools to help them be successful in the growing season, according to Dr. Juan Landivar, Director of the Corpus Christi Agrilife Research and Extension Center.
    The workshop will begin at 1:30 p.m. and conclude by 5:00 p.m.  Topics will include a discussion on Environmental and Physiological Processes that Impact Fiber Quality Development led by Mourad Krifa, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Fiber Science, The University of Texas at Austin, Dept. of Textiles and Apparel.  Dr. Krifa will also be discussing fiber development and micronaire variation - the key to cotton fiber use-value.  The discussion on the expected impact of drought stress on fiber quality will be of particular interest this year due to our below normal rainfall during the growing season.
     An online Cotton Defoliation management tool available at the Crop Weather Program website will be discussed and demonstrated, while agronomic considerations for improving the final stages of this cotton crop will be reviewed.  In addition, marketing updates and risk management strategies will be discussed by local Extension Economists.
    2 CEU’s will be offered for pesticide applicators and certified crop advisors.  This workshop is being sponsored by Texas AgriLife Research and the Texas AgriLife Extension Service.
Individuals with disabilities, who require an auxiliary aid, service or accommodation in order to participate in any of the mentioned activities, are encouraged to contact the County Extension Office at 361-767-5223 at least eight days before all programs for assistance. Educational programs of the Texas AgriLife Extension Service are open to all citizens without regard to race, color, sex, disability, religion, age or national origin.

COTTON GROWTH NEARING COMPLETION

    The cotton crop in the Coastal Bend is in the process of wrapping up its mission for the 2011 crop as flowers have now moved to the top of the plant and the event known as “cutout” has been reached.  Cutout is generally reached when there are 4 or 5 nodes above the white flower in the first fruiting position.
    The cotton plants are now placing all of their remaining energy into boll development and no more harvestable fruit is being set.  Under optimum growing conditions, it would take about 50 days for the boll to open after pollination and one can describe boll development in three phases; namely enlargement, filling and maturation.
    The enlargement phase of cotton boll development lasts about 3 weeks.  It is during this time that the fibers produced on the seed are elongating and the maximum volume of the boll and seeds is attained.  The fiber development is very sensitive to adverse environmental conditions, like moisture stress, which could reduce fiber strength, and this could be a factor in fiber quality with this years drought.
    The fourth week after flowering is known as the filling phase at which time fiber elongation ends and the secondary wall formation of the cotton fiber begins.  Cellulose is deposited inside the elongated fiber every 24 hours, filling the void space of the elongated fiber.
    As the cotton boll reaches its full size and weight, it begins the maturation phase.  During this time the seed and fiber mature, while the boll begins to split open, caused by capsule walls drying and cells shrinking unevenly.  A rain now would sure be welcomed to help complete the boll maturation process.