Over the last day, the area of potential development in the western Caribbean has become much more organized and has been designated as Invest 97 by the National Hurricane Center. This designation means the disturbance has become well-enough established to provide meaningful data about where the storm might go, although there is still a lot of uncertainty until the storm …

Wesley M. Porter, Associate Professor and Extension Ag Engineer University of Georgia While this production season has seemed to be spread out across multiple months in the beginning, we are reaching that time of year that Camp Hand likes to say “The smell of Folex is in the air”. It’s easy to recognize that smell if you have spent any …

During every farm bill cycle, we get asked to provide updates at county, regional, state-wide, and national meetings in the years leading up to the bill, during bill development, and in instances where it appears progress has stalled – like now.  Sometimes the message is not fun to deliver. But, it’s the job, and it’s better to give an honest assessment …

MEMPHIS – Citing worsening economic conditions impacting the nation’s farmers, the National Cotton Council led an effort that resulted in over 300 national and state groups sending a letter to congressional leaders today calling on them to pass the farm bill before year’s end. Signatories included groups representing farmers, livestock and specialty crop producers, lenders and other essential stakeholders in …

Articles in this month’s issue include: Late-season nutrient monitoring and management in cotton (Henry Sintim) Importance of end-of-season irrigation termination and disease control in cotton (Wes Porter, David Hall, Jason Mallard, Phillip Edwards, and Daniel Lyon) Terminating Insecticide Applications (Phillip Roberts) Timeliness of defoliation and protecting fiber quality (Josh Lee, John Snider, Jayson Wisekal, and Camp Hand) Get out there …

On August 12, the Commodity Commission Ex Officio Committee met to make appointments to the Georgia Cotton Commission Board of Directors. GCC Chairman Bart Davis, a cotton, peanut, corn and cattle farmer from Doerun, Ga. was reappointed to another term on the board. Chad Mathis, a cotton, peanut and corn farm of Arlington, Ga. was reappointed to the board as …

PERRY/TIFTON, Ga. – The Georgia Cotton Commission, Georgia Peanut Commission and the University of Georgia Extension Cotton and Peanut Teams, will co-sponsor a joint research field day on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, in Tifton, Georgia. The field day will start at 8:00 a.m. at the Tifton Campus Conference Center (TCCC) in the North Parking Lot. After a brief welcome, field …

Articles in this month’s issue include: 1. Thoughts following the “H-word” (Camp Hand) 2. Another Storm to Weather (Wade Parker) 3. Cotton IPM Update (Phillip Roberts) 4. Cotton Irrigation Considerations for August (David Hall, Jason Mallard, Phillip Edwards, Daniel Lyon, and Wesley Porter) 5. Physiological Maturity in Cotton – Cutout (Josh Lee, John Snider, and Camp Hand) 6. Cotton Leaves …

The USDA Risk Management Agency (RMA) published final 2023 county yields for upland cotton on July 3, 2024.  Upland cotton producers who purchased 2023 crop year Stacked Income Protection Plan (STAX) policies are now receiving final indemnity payments, thus contributing to current cash flow.  Based on RMA’s Summary of Business reporting as of July 15, total STAX indemnities across all states for 2023 will …

The 2023 Georgia Quality Cotton Awards were presented at the 2024 Georgia Cotton Commission Mid-Year Meeting on July 24, 2024. The awards are co-sponsored by the Georgia Cotton Commission and Bayer Crop Science/Deltapine and administered by the University of Georgia (UGA) Cotton Team. Yangxuan Liu from the UGA Cotton Team conducted the analysis and presented the awards at the event …

Producers make several important marketing and risk management decisions throughout the year. One of the most important decisions is the choice of coverage levels when purchasing crop insurance. Revenue Protection (RP) – by far the most popular plan of insurance – provides an indemnity if realized revenue (combination of yield and price) drops below the guarantee (or a percent of …

Tarnished plant bug has been a more frequent insect pest of Georgia cotton in recent years.  More specifically we estimated 34 percent of the acres were treated for plant bugs in 2021, 17 percent in 2022, and 39 percent in 2024.  Prior to 2021, we typically treated about 10-12 percent of Georgia cotton for plant bugs.  The bottom line is …