Southwest cotton farmers have a plethora of management decisions to make in the last few weeks before they begin planting. One could be the decision not to plant too soon. As days warm up and winter wanes, producers need to firm up acreage, variety, planting date and seeding rates and fertility. Randy Boman, Oklahoma State University Extension cotton state leader, offered some tips recently at the annual Carnegie Cooperative Cotton conference in Carnegie, Okla.

VARIETY DECISIONS

Boman says variety selection decisions to reduce production risks should include:

PLANTING DATE AND RATE

Planting procedures are also important and could set the stage for the rest of the season. Boman offers this advice:

FERTILITY

Growers also need to look at fertility, especially nitrogen, Boman says. “Annual deep soil sampling for nitrogen should be routine, partly because of the potential for excess nitrogen, which increases cost as well as posing production problems such as:

“I see more cotton fields with too much nitrogen rather than too little,” he says. “One bale of cotton requires about 50 pounds of nitrogen. Some of that demand may be met with residual nitrogen (NO₃) in the soil and irrigation water, so those sources should be tested and accounted for in the nitrogen fertilizer application.”

Foliar fertilization may be justified in cases where in-season deficiencies appear, he says. “I have seen dryland cotton yields double when zinc deficiency is corrected with extremely timely foliar application — but timing is very critical. 

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However, the expense of supplemental nutrition on a healthy crop is hard to justify, he says. “Texas studies also have not shown a profitable response to supplemental nutrition to a healthy crop, and that seems to hold beltwide. The first nutrient priority is soil fertility.”