2024 was a year of challenges for Georgia growers from start to finish it seemed like. Even before the season got going I had many conversations with growers revolving around the current economic situation on the farm and how the outlook was bleak. Couple that with struggling to get the crop planted, virus induced bronze wilt, late season plant bugs, and two storms in August and September, making 2024 that much more of a year to put behind us and move on to 2025. Georgia growers are some of the most resilient folks in the country, and I have no doubt that we will bounce back after one of the more challenging years since I started.
The Cotton Team is looking forward to getting back on the road for county meetings this winter along with Taylor and Caroline – of course one of the big things I will be discussing will be varieties for the coming year. The 2024 On-Farm Variety Trial Results are posted on the Georgia Cotton Commission website as well as the UGA Cotton Team Website (ugacotton.com). Overall, the data from 2024 demonstrates the extreme challenges that were faced by growers this season, but it still shows that despite our many challenges we had a great cotton crop that would’ve been better had we been able to gather it all. This year, 7 varieties were in the top yielding group across all locations, with all yielding above average over 50% of the time, and only a 57 lb/acre difference between them. We evaluated 10 varieties this past year, so this tells me that overall, most of the varieties evaluated have very good yield potential. We still have a lot to learn about some of these newer varieties, but overall I think we learned some good lessons in 2024 on the importance of positioning varieties and putting them in a position to be successful. I believe most everyone now should know how to interpret the data from the variety trial, but if you have questions please feel free to reach out to your local UGA County Extension Agent.
In thinking about 2025, it is clear to me that growers will continue to try and cut inputs and I completely understand why. However, it does seem that when we are talking about cutting, most of the stuff that folks want to cut are up front – using lower rates of nematicide, cutting back on a preventive at plant insecticide, not utilizing at-plant herbicides, and reducing seeding rates. While we may be able to get away with some of those things depending on the situation, most of these things are necessary to make the crop! If you have a nematode problem, use the full rate of your nematicide; preventive at-plant insecticides are key to getting the crop off to a good start; and at-plant herbicides are vital to a good weed management program and are going to be extremely important in 2025. But what about seeding rates? Can we cut those? Many of our county agents have been doing seeding rate trials over the last few years, and their data shows that we may be able to reduce seeding rates without sacrificing yield. But over the last two years, I set out to answer the question, “How low can you go?” And I think that we may have found out – we went as low as 15,000 seed/acre, which is just over one seed per foot. Now if all of those came up, its all good! But how often is every seed you put in the ground emerging and producing a plant that significantly contributes to lint yield? Probably rarely. Even on the experiment stations we see a wide range of emergence depending on the farm, but we are anywhere from 70 to 90% emergence which is overall pretty good! But, if you were planting 15,000 seed/acre and only had 70% emergence, that is 10,500 plants, which would trigger a replant in most situations. The results of our work over the last few years across Georgia indicate that a seeding rate between 25,000 to 30,000 seed/acre will produce maximum yield potential. But remember, it isn’t just about the seeding rate, it’s about how many plants come up, and we don’t want to put ourselves behind the 8 ball as soon as the season starts by trying to cut too much. YOU know your farms best, so do what is best for your farm while also keeping in mind there are many factors we can’t control – hard packing rains, hail storms, deer feeding, etc. that will take a stand from us. Are there places we can cut? Sure! But let’s not cut out the stuff we need to get the 2025 crop off to a good start.
I’ll be talking about all of these topics more in depth (and a few other things) at production meetings this year, but in the meantime, I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. If you have any questions, please reach out to your local UGA County Extension Agent.
Camp Hand
Assistant Professor and Extension Cotton Agronomist
University of Georgia