LITTLE ROCK — With Isaac on the way, Arkansas cotton growers are being advised to hold off on spraying defoliants at least until Wednesday, Tom Barber, extension cotton agronomist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, said Monday.
Defoliating the cotton is an essential step to harvesting.
“With Tropical Storm Isaac’s path in question, I would hold off on all defoliation applications at least until Wednesday,” Barber said. “By Wednesday we should have a better idea of where Isaac will make landfall and where the track will be.”
The “cotton crop will withstand the heavy rains and winds much better with the leaves on, which will provide some protection for both open and unopened bolls,” he said.
“If Isaac tracks to the east of the Mississippi, then we will probably not receive much rain and applications can resume,” Barber said. “High winds could cause cotton to lodge with this storm, making defoliation applications more difficult and expensive.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
On the plus side, sometimes the plants stand back up.
Cotton bolls are opening at high rates and Barber said constant rainfall over a three-day period that will damage bolls by causing hard lock or prompting rot. For bolls already open, the rain could cause the lint to string out.
For more information on cotton production, contact your county extension office.
For more information on flood preparedness see: http://uaex.edu/news/pressroom/storm_recovery/BeAware_Flooding.pdf
Tornado preparedness tipsheet available:
http://uaex.edu/news/pressroom/storm_recovery/BeAware_Tornadoes.pdf
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Mary Hightower is with the Cooperative Extension Service, a part of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.