It is the time of year for extension educational meetings and 2022 growing season planning. I am willing to bet that many cotton growers have been discussing what varieties you might add to their repertoire. To aid in your decision making, I wanted to share information from 2021 cotton trials completed across the Panhandle. I also want to share data from cotton trials done in Alabama; our Auburn friends have stellar information from Brewton, Fairhope, and the Wiregrass (AU Cotton Variety Platform) that is definitely of interest to Panhandle farmers. I will also include data from the University of Georgia; they do many trials across the state both on dryland and irrigated, so you will have a range. Know that most yields aren’t exceptional, but with so much rainfall during the 21 growing season, there were less than optimum yields in most locations.
Our first trial to highlight was completed in Washington County, with Mark Mauldin and Ethan Carter collaborating with grower, Josh Hayes using his own farm production practices. The highlighted data represent the highest yielding varieties for Mr. Hayes.
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The second trial summary is from Jefferson County, with Danielle Sprague working with growers Ernest and Clay Fulford. Yields seem to increase further east in the state, but Ernest and Clay also are excellent growers. You can see that in the trials across Florida, we used different varieties in the trials.
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From the West Florida Research and Education Center, where was rain was abundant, the yields were not nearly as good as in Jefferson or Washington Counties. We did not send off cotton for microginning; we use a standard turnout, but as you can see from the previous two tables, the real turnout makes a huge difference in lint yield. Hopefully we can send a subsample to be microginned for 2022 tests.
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In Santa Rosa, we annually work with Drew Schrimsher and his team from Greenpoint Ag to do an on-farm trial at grower, Mickey Diamond’s farm. Mickey is a conscientious grower, and we appreciate his continued effort to do an projects at his place. The highlighted varieties represent the highest yielding varieties at Mickey’s. These plots were all microginned.
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A second plot trial was completed, near Jay, with Ryan Jenkins, and the yields are represented below.
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In Alabama, I’d like to highlight results from two locations in Baldwin county. The first is from Joel Sirmon, and the second is from the Gulf Coast Station, in Fairhope. For more research from Auburn, please check out their AU Cotton Variety Platform website. Dr. Steve Brown told us at the Jay meeting that it was something worth looking at before choosing varieties, and he is right!
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Finally, as promised, below is the data from Georgia’s On-Farm trials. It covers both irrigated and dryland fields. You may also want to review the 2021 Preliminary Results from Cotton and Peanuts statewide variety testing.
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After these past few weeks of winter weather, I think most of us are looking forward to getting ready for the 2022 growing season. Please take advantage of the many upcoming production meetings around the region, and always feel free to contact your local extension agent for assistance with variety selection, pest management, and production.
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Farm Day 2022 – February 28 – Atmore, AL
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2022 Panhandle Row Crop Short Course – March 3
