Cotton replanting, weed control research to be discussed at Delta Center Field Day

PORTAGEVILLE, Mo. -- The rising cost of cottonseed has led some Missouri cotton producers to use seed too sparingly, with unfortunate results, a University of Missouri state extension cotton specialist said.

Bobby Phipps of MU Delta Research Center will talk about cotton planting dates, replanting and populations at the Delta Center Field Day on Sept. 2. His main message: "Don't plan on replanting; be sure you get a good stand the first time."

Phipps noted that a bag of seed, which cost $60 less than a decade ago, now sells for about $300. "The price of seed being what it is, the farmers would like to plant thin," he said. "We've been looking at things like how much you lose if you plant later. How thin does it have to be before you replant?"

Under ideal circumstances, the cotton plants in a thin stand will grow bigger and yield better, on an individual basis, than those in a thickly planted stand, Phipps said. He noted that ideal circumstances are all too rare in farming. "If anything happens to the crop, that stand will be too thin."

Even if plant growth compensates for the thinness of the stand, he added, "it takes them longer to mature." That added time can seriously skew the schedule of defoliation and harvest later in the season.

The skyrocketing cost of cottonseed, Phipps said, "came with genetic engineering." Most Bootheel planters now grow either Bt cotton or Roundup-Ready cotton. "The farmer's not really buying seed; he's buying the technology and the farming method -- which come on the seed."

At the Field Day, researchers from Delta Center Weed Science Project will highlight their work with Roundup Ready Flex Cotton -- a new product that will replace "the old Roundup-Ready cotton," said Delta weed scientist Andy Kendig.

"The old cotton has a hitch -- you can't spray over-the-top after the four-leaf stage," Kendig said. "It disrupts boll development. The Flex cotton allows you to spray over the top much later. We found that when we could go over-the-top just one more time, it made all the difference in the world in managing weeds."

Phipps will also host the Cotton Variety Trials Field Day at Delta Center Lee Farm on Sept. 14. "It's probably the most popular thing we do with the growers," he said. "We try to get the crop harvested and ginned first, so we can get the data out before anyone else. It benefits the grower to get the data out quick. They have to book seed in December, so we make a special effort to get that done."

For more information about Delta Center Field Days, call the center at (573) 379-5431.