Severe Weather Cotton Crop
WEST JACKSON—West Tennessee cotton farmers look to battle “Mother Nature’s” fury once again with continued chances for thunderstorms all this week. With heavy rain and wind expected all this week, cotton farmers struggle to get into their fields. “A lot of times during the fall you know now the weather can be erratic. That’s really the main factor is when we can get to the field. We have to run as hard as we possibly can to get the crop in.” Matthew Wiggins PhD Candidate University of Tennessee Plant Science, says. The longer the crop stays in the field quality and color decline. Rain and wind though weaken cotton fiber faster. “The lower bolls have already opened and been open for sometime as you can see behind me. A lot of the fiber has begun to string out of the boll. If we get heavy thunderstorms, heavy winds, heavy rains we can lose the fiber and that would be really detrimental to yield.” Dr. Tyson Raper, UT Cotton and Small Grains Specialist, says. The rain and the wind can push the cotton fiber to the ground making it hard for the pickers to pick costing farmers profit. “The main concern is can we get those upper most bolls open. If we can get them out and get the fiber out, it looks like were gonna have a really good year in cotton.” Dr. Raper says. Many cotton farmers are hoping for dry, warmer weather the next few weeks. “Ideal conditions are when the cotton is dry. So these rain showers in the morning and afternoon make it difficult to harvest.” Wiggins says. Although rain and wind could damage the cotton crop, USDA experts expect average to above average profits this year for farmers.
