UGA Cotton Team Newsletter – April 2023

Articles in this month’s issue include:

  1. The Cause of Recent Bank Failures and the Ripple Effect on Cotton Producers (Serrina Liu)
  2. Efficient Nutrient Management Strategies for Cotton (Henry Sintim and Glen Harris)
  3. Irrigation System Prep and Early Season Water Requirements for Cotton Production (Wes Porter, David Hall, Jason Mallard, and Phillip Edwards)
  4. Thrips Management: Use an At-Plant Insecticide (Phillip Roberts)
  5. Planter Preparation (Simer Virk and Wes Porter)
  6. A Brief Look at the Coming Growing Season (Pam Knox)
  7. A Pre-season Checklist for Diseases and Nematodes of Cotton (Bob Kemerait)
  8. Thoughts Ahead of Planting (Camp Hand)
  9. Keeping Early Season Planting Considerations Simple (John Snider, Camp Hand, Josh Lee)
  10. The Georgia Cotton Farmer, Dicamba, and the Future of Pesticides (Stanley Culpepper)
  11. “It was only cold when it was cold”: Winter Weather Impact on Silverleaf Whitefly RISK (Phillip Roberts)

The Cause of Recent Bank Failures and the Ripple Effect on Cotton Producers (Serrina Liu): Since March 2021, inflation has started to soar in the United States, reaching a 40-year high in June 2022 at 9.1%. History and economic theory show that if the central bank doesn’t get inflation back in place, that could result in a series of years where inflation is high and volatile. High inflation will cause economic hardship, eroding purchasing power, discouraging capital investment, and melting the economy. Thus, Fed remains strongly committed to returning inflation to the two percent goal. To quell inflation, the Fed hiked interest rates nine times over the last year, raising the Federal Funds Target Rate from 0.25% during the pandemic to 5% since March 22, 2023. Reducing inflation requires interest rates to remain relatively high for a long time. Fed expects the Federal Funds Target Rate to be 5.1% at the end of this year, 4.3% at the end of 2024, and 3.1% at the end of 2025. A high interest rate is likely to require a period of below trend GDP growth in the United States and some softening in labor market conditions. [READ MORE]