Georgia farmers who delay picking their cotton could lose
money
by sacrificing the crop’s quality, say University of Georgia
cotton
experts.
Many of the state’s farmers grow both cotton and peanuts,
which
mature at about the same time. They harvest peanuts throughout
September and October and pick cotton from mid-September into
December.
Handling both harvests at the same time can strain farmers’
resources. The peanut harvest coincides with the time they apply
chemicals to remove the cotton plants’ foliage and stop
growth.
“Right now, most farmers don’t have the luxury of
handling
the majority of peanut and cotton harvest at the same time,”
said Don Shurley, an economist with the UGA College of
Agriculture
and Environmental Sciences. “Most farmers leave the cotton
to get in the peanuts.”
Getting Bad Grades
Shurley and Craig Bednarz, a CAES assistant professor of
cotton
physiology, began a study three years ago to find out how much
growers lose by postponing cotton defoliation and harvest.
The cotton plant opens its bolls, the part that produces the
lint, for about six weeks. Soon after, Bednarz said, the quality
and potential yields decline. The bolls don’t all open at once.
Some will be open and subject to decline, while others continue
to develop.
When quality declines, cotton mills lower the price they pay
the farmer. In some cases, they even refuse to buy some of the
cotton. The mills want high-quality cotton that can more easily
be processed into yarn.
Last year, deductions due to poor quality cost state growers
$40 million, Shurley said. The 1999 crop was worth about $440
million, according to the Georgia Agricultural Statistics
Service.
Timing Versus Quality
“The main reason we’re doing this research is that the
fiber properties in the state aren’t as good as some mid-South
cotton,” Bednarz said. “Harvest timing has something
to do with this.”
“We got peanuts to pick, and we got cotton to pick,”
said Roy Roberts, an Ocilla, Ga., farmer. Because of limited
manpower
and time, Roberts will usually opt to pick his peanuts first and
delay his cotton harvest.
But Roberts, who also manages a gin, has seen cotton quality
decline over the years. He worries about the state’s position
as a leading producer.
“I’d like to see us do a better job on staggering out
the peanut and cotton planting, going back to having a good
reputation
for producing a good quality crop,” he said. He pointed to
the need for a timely harvest and a uniform crop.
Bednarz said the research could help farmers find a more
profitable
balance between cotton and peanuts for harvest resources, such
as labor, equipment and chemical applications.
Best Timing
At the Coastal Plain Experiment Station in Tifton, Ga.,
Bednarz
scheduled harvest at 13 stages of crop maturity.
He began harvest-aid applications when 10 percent of the
bolls
were open and continued every week for 13 weeks. Each plot was
mechanically harvested following defoliation.
By adjusting income to compensate for losses to grade
deductions,
the 1999 economic analysis shows the per-acre dollar value
increased
from week 1 to week 6. It peaked at $684 per acre.
Research in 1998 showed the best time to defoliate cotton was
when the crop had 60 percent open bolls. In 1999, the profit
peaked
at about 70 percent open bolls.
Bednarz said the research results are still early. The
weather
changes and affects cotton differently from year to year, he
said.
So multiple-season data will be needed before they can set a
stable
guideline for farmers.