Harvest aid demonstrations were established in Howard, Nolan, Runnels, and Tom Green 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 cotton regrowth would be an important consideration. Most producers modified their spray rigs to improve coverage with the harvest aids applied. Pressure for most applications by ground rig was in the 40 to 80 p.s.i. range. 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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