Water and the timing of that moisture helped produce record yields this season on T&D Kohlleppel Farms, LaCoste, Texas. David Kohlleppel estimates 4.9 to 5-plus bales per acre on their irrigated cotton, which will be a PB – a personal best– for himself and his father Ted.

“We had a little bit more rainfall than last year, so we were able to irrigate it enough,” David said as he picked his way through the stark white fields. “Last year we irrigated and irrigated and irrigated. It just wasn’t enough. We needed some help from above.”

LaCoste is located in the Winter Garden area, a region that averages about 36 inches of rainfall per year. In 2023, the Kohlleppels’ farms only received about 7 inches from January to August. This year, that rainfall almost doubled to 12 inches and, fortunately, came at just the right time.  

“We had a nice 5-inch rain in January that put some sub-moisture down, so we were fortunate for that,” David said.

On the flip side, later in the season, when the cotton was blooming, the rain held off, preventing the plant from shedding its blooms.

“We were blessed to have some rain and not too much. Sometimes we get too much rain here and we'll go the other way. Instead of making cotton, we're shedding cotton. So, we did good,” Daivd said.

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His ginner, Haydn Maddox, Leona Valley Gin Company, Batesville, agrees. “This is an amazing crop,” he told Farm Press at a field day at Kohlleppel Farms. “Every time we had a cloud, this place got rain, a tenth or an inch over and above everywhere else.”

The Kohlleppels, who use furrow irrigation, center pivots and drip, irrigate from two sources: the Edwards Aquifer and Medina Lake, which is currently dry. With drought restrictions, David was thankful to apply 18 inches to one of his farms.  

“That’s the key to making good cotton. You’ve got to have a lot of water to make it work.”

The temperatures were favorable as well. The triple-digit temperatures held off until the end of the growing season in July and during harvest.

David Kohlleppel is thankful for the bountiful harvest. He credits timely rainfall and irrigation for his record yields. (Photo by Shelley E. Huguley)

“The year before, in May and June, we were already at 100 degrees, so [this year] it all worked out to be okay.”

Defoliation

The weather also aided effective defoliation. “We always check for the top bolls to see if when we cut them open, if the seeds have the brown edge around them. When we see that, we know we’re close to defoliating.”

The Kohlleppels take a two-shot spray approach. The first spray is Dropp and Redi-Pik. Five to six days later, the second shot is applied using the same defoliants only with a boll opener. “Usually, Day 7, we’re able to start picking. After Day 10, it won’t get any better.”

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Drought challenges

While David is grateful for his record yields, he admits, the last three years of drought have been tough. “This is the third year on this farm that we’ve been faced with the severity of no average or normal rainfall. It’s just been so dry.”

His dryland corn reflected the deficit. “We had 30-bushel corn, due to the fact that it didn’t get enough rain. Our irrigated corn, we irrigated probably 12 inches of water with a pivot, plus the little bit of the rainfall we got. It averaged about 155 bushels. I’m used to 180 but, we’ll take it.”

David and Ted Kohlleppel grows FiberMax cotton. (Photo by Shelley E. Huguley)

Red spider issues and early season wind damage in April and May, that broke some of the stalks, also challenged production. “I thought yields would be a lot less than 155 bushels with the green snap, but it turned out ok.”

The dryland sorghum fared better. One field yielded about 3,800 pounds, while a farm a mile away that received a little bit more rain, yielded 4,400 pounds. “It wasn’t the best, but it wasn’t the worst,” David said.

Weed control was also a challenge, as he said there were weeds, “that just wouldn’t die.”

Economy, inflation

While this nation’s producers continue to battle inflation, T&D Kohlleppel Farms is trying to cut costs by reducing fertilizer and trips across the field while also using less tillage. But the one resource that won’t be reduced is water.

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“We have to keep the water. We can’t cut the water off,” David said. “It’s not something we can cheat on.”

His hopes are that a new farm bill will include legislation that helps farmers battling drought. “I just hope there’s something for farmers, to give them a leg up on drought conditions and what not, so we can keep doing what we’re doing. If things don’t change, I don’t see there being a future in farming.”