Harvest aid demonstrations were established in Reagan, Runnels, Tom Green, Martin, and Nolan Counties for county crop tours. The final report for these tests are linked. The reports shown as a "Virtual Tour" have treatment names that are underlined in the table and these are linked to a picture of that treatment. I want to thank all the Extension Agents that assisted in the plot designs and establishment, their names are listed on the reports. Enjoy the virtual tour! The information obtained from these plots was useful in discussing harvest aid selection for boll opening, defoliation, and desiccation.
All of the harvest aid tests established this year have alerted producers to the fact that the cotton with regrowth is a challenge and we will have to modify the ground rig nozzle configuration. The nozzle over the top of the row can be a flat fan nozzle of your choice. Drop nozzles used in the furrows directed toward the middle to lower portion of the cotton plant will be needed. The nozzle of choice will be the one that gets the best coverage of the harvest aid applied. Pressure for application may be 50 to 80 p.s.i. to get the needed coverage. Off target drift will be a concern! For desiccation/abscission of juvenile growth, producers will need to select Ginstar, Aim, Blizzard, ET or Resource. If adequate time exists for the juvenile leaves to mature before applying a harvest aid then paraquat can be used to desiccated the leaves.
One big harvest aid decision for dryland producers is whether to defoliate. The leaf grade discounts are high enough that producers should be concerned. In most cases they can't afford to kill the leaves and have them remain on the plant. For defoliation, there are several good defoliants to choose from. Some producers are applying a light rate of desiccant and then after a majority of the leaves have fallen off, applied a high rate of desiccant to prepare the crop for harvest.
Sincerely,
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