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5 tips for planting cotton into failed wheat crop

"It's like planting behind a cover crop, you just may be dealing with more biomass than normal."

Shelley E. Huguley, Editor

May 7, 2020

4 Min Read
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Oklahoma State University Cotton Extension Specialist Seth Byrd says planting cotton into a failed wheat crop is like planting into a cover crop only with more biomass. Shelley E. Huguley

A mid-April freeze halted wheat production in southwest Oklahoma on what looked to be a bumper crop. And while some producers may decide to graze or hay the damaged wheat, others may convert their acres to cotton.

"The southwest corner was significantly impacted by this freeze," says Gary Strickland, Oklahoma State University's Jackson County Extension director, who evaluated fields across an eight-county area. "We're finding some level of freeze damage in most fields. The damage varies from as low as 10% to as heavy as 80%. So, we've seen some pretty devasting damage."  

In Tillman County, Extension Director Aaron Henson estimates about 35% damage countywide. "We had some 60 to 70-bushel wheat and some pushing 80, and then some at 30 bushels that had been heavily grazed." But April 15, all that changed including for Tillman County grower Dallas Geis, who lost 1,500 acres to the cold snap.

See, Oklahoma wheat farmer takes big hit from April freeze

"Prior to the freeze, I was very optimistic about a great wheat harvest," Geis says. "The day after the freeze, I was cautiously optimistic we had dodged the bullet. Five days later, I was holding out hope. Ten days later, it’s gone."

Geis produces wheat, cotton and cattle. He says he'll replace some of his failed acres with cotton, but he has some concerns.

"My adjuster said I can get 35% of my wheat crop insurance payments and plant cotton, but the issue is the wheat is four-foot tall. There's a lot of residue out there."

Geis hoped he could cut and bale the residue prior to planting, but insurance won't allow. "You've got to plant into what's standing. You can't take the hay off and plant a cotton crop and have it insured," Geis explains. "We're going to plant the cotton into the standing wheat and then run a shredder over the top of it to get some of that residue down on the ground. I don't think there's any way you could run a stripper through it the way it is."

For those considering planting cotton into terminated wheat, OSU Cotton Extension Specialist Seth Byrd assures all is not lost.

"It's like planting behind a cover crop, you just may be dealing with more biomass than normal."

Byrd recommends growers consider the following:

  1. Chemically terminate the wheat. "If insurance allows, terminate the wheat crop by spraying a herbicide like Roundup, so whatever resources it is using it stops."

  2. When planting, focus on good seed to soil contact. "Depending on how much biomass is out there, how thick your wheat was, make sure when planting cotton that you're getting good seed to soil contact. Use row-cleaners or trash whips on your planter to try to move some of the residue away from your seed row."

  3. Bump up your nitrogen application. "We've always said when you're using a cover, which is basically what we've got now, that you want to bump your nitrogen 20 units per acre. When you have more biomass on the ground, you're going to have some tie-up, so you need to bump up your nitrogen." This recommendation is common across the Cotton Belt for planting cotton behind a small grains cover crop.

  4. Watch soil temperatures and soil moisture. "With residue we tend to have cooler soil temperatures and hold onto soil moisture a little bit longer. For us in the Southwest, that's usually a benefit. In other areas, that's a detriment when you're planting behind a lot of biomass." 

  5. Scout. "Now you've got a host crop all around you. You don't know what your neighbors are going to do, fields could be terminated and others not, so scout early for thrips. We may see folks planting cotton earlier this year because they thought they were going to have a wheat crop to finish them out. If we have an earlier planted cotton crop, we're going to put ourselves at a higher potential or thrips infestations. So, be diligent about scouting early. The later in May you plant cotton, the risk of thrips goes down. Begin scouting at cotyledon emergence through four to five leaf stage. Understand your seed treatment and what the longevity of that is and know what to do if you see an infestation at a level that validates treatment."

"I hate this for these guys who had a lot of wheat," Byrd says. "But for those going back with cotton, there are some positive things. It's probably not harder than what they would do in a normal year, it's just different."

The May 2020 Oklahoma Wheat Crop Estimate is for a 96.524-million-bushel crop, based on 2,910, 787 harvested acres and a 33.161 bushel per acre yield, says Mike Shulte, executive director for the Oklahoma Wheat Commission. The 49th annual report is generated by the Oklahoma Grain and Feed, Oklahoma Wheat Commission and Oklahoma Wheat Growers.

About the Author

Shelley E. Huguley

Editor, Southwest Farm Press

Shelley Huguley has been involved in agriculture for the last 25 years. She began her career in agricultural communications at the Texas Forest Service West Texas Nursery in Lubbock, where she developed and produced the Windbreak Quarterly, a newspaper about windbreak trees and their benefit to wildlife, production agriculture and livestock operations. While with the Forest Service she also served as an information officer and team leader on fires during the 1998 fire season and later produced the Firebrands newsletter that was distributed quarterly throughout Texas to Volunteer Fire Departments. Her most personal involvement in agriculture also came in 1998, when she married the love of her life and cotton farmer Preston Huguley of Olton, Texas. As a farmwife, she knows first-hand the ups and downs of farming, the endless decisions made each season based on “if” it rains, “if” the drought continues, “if” the market holds. She is the bookkeeper for their family farming operation and cherishes moments on the farm such as taking harvest meals to the field or starting a sprinkler in the summer with the whole family lending a hand. Shelley has also freelanced for agricultural companies such as Olton CO-OP Gin, producing the newsletter Cotton Connections while also designing marketing materials to promote the gin. She has published articles in agricultural publications such as Southwest Farm Press while also volunteering her marketing and writing skills to non-profit organizations such as Refuge Services, an equine-assisted therapy group in Lubbock. She and her husband reside in Olton with their three children Breely, Brennon and HalleeKate.

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