Cotton comments, 04/19/2012, v.2 no.4

              Current Situation
Precipitation continues to be beneficial in much of the Oklahoma cotton area. Violent thunderstorms generating tornadoes have also been encountered. Wheat and canola continue to look good and are making excellent progress in many areas with adequate rainfall. Planting moisture is good in many fields at this time. Seed acquisition has occurred and producers are busy checking equipment for repairs in anticipation of planting soon. Earlier in the year, the National Cotton Council Planting Intentions Producer Survey estimated that Oklahoma would plant 374,000 acres (down 10% from 415,000 acres last year. More recently in March, the USDA-National Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA-NASS) projected that Oklahoma would plant 350,000 acres, down 16% from last year. Only time will tell.
Altus Mesonet rainfall from October 1, 2011 through April 18, 2012 totaled 11.58 inches, compared to the Altus “Normal” (1971-2000) of 11.78”. From January 1 through April 18, we are about 89% of Normal with 5.69” compared to 6.37” for the Normal. As I mentioned in the last newsletter, we have come a long way since last year with near normal precipitation. We have some good chances of additional rainfall in the area soon based on the forecast. The main caveat is that the North Fork watershed still has not delivered much inflow into Lake Altus and it is about 22% of capacity at this time. This has significant implications for production for the Lugert-Altus Irrigation District. To monitor this situation, a website is available. To access this website, click here:
Click here for Lake Altus
Based on results from a long-term irrigated date of planting study conducted at the OSU Southwest Research and Extension Center, the window producing the highest yield opens around May 10 and begins to close during the last week of May. Of course, an individual year’s results can vary. With May just around the corner, and air and soil temperatures climbing, many producers are gearing up for planting. Rainfall may affect producer plans and possibly lower soil temperatures, but as of this writing, the Altus (www.weather.com) 10-day forecast indicates that beginning Sunday, April 22, highs could be in the low to mid-80s with lows in the mid 50s to low 60s. Although this is earlier than the maximum yield window for irrigated cotton at Altus discussed above, if this forecast holds up, we should see 70 plus cotton DD60 heat units from Monday April 23 through Saturday April 28.
April 19, 2012 Volume 2 Edition 4 Volume 1 Edition 7
Cotton Comments
OSU Southwest Oklahoma Research and Extension Center
Altus, OK