Cotton Crop Needs Just a Bit More Dry Weather to Finish Planting

Mid-May is a critical time for planting cotton in Louisiana.

“Once you have to plant past the middle of May, yields tend to decrease pretty fast,” said LSU AgCenter/Extension Service Cotton Specialist Dr. Dan Fromme.

“Since the last rain 4 to 5 days ago we were roughly about 30 to 35 percent planted around the state,” said Fromme.

“As of May 5th it’s still wet for most of Louisiana. Some producers and consultants I visited with say the next 2 to 3 days looks like we’ll be able to get back int he fields. And if we can get the rest 65 to 70 percent of the cotton crop planted in a week, we’ll be doing pretty good, considering all the hardships we’ve had with the rain and so forth.”

Fromme says the only negative on the horizon right now is the possibility of more rain this week-end.

“However, not a significant amount but as wet as we are it could keep us out of the field in some parts of the state.”