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Kara Bishop
In Cotton News, Featured Stories

April 26, 2024

Welcome to the April 26, 2024 issue of Cotton News, a service provided by Plains Cotton Growers Inc. for the cotton industry in the Texas High Plains and beyond.

Texas High Plains Planting Conditions Forecast

Upcoming Events

In Case You Missed It

Texas High Plains Planting Conditions Forecast

By Ken Legé , Texas A&M AgriLife Cotton Extension Specialist, Lubbock Center

It is that time of year to look at planting conditions — considering moisture, air and soil temperatures, and planting capacities to determine planting start dates.

We will cover two planting conditions forecasts, each with 3 specific locations. They both show the high and low temperatures, as well as precipitation forecast percentage. I have calculated the DD60s for each day, and a 5-d DD60 accumulation total for the next five days. I’ve added some commentary to help producers plan planting operations. Most comments consider field soil moisture and soil temperatures.

2024 TX Panhandle Planting Conditions Forecast – April 22, 2024

Locations for this forecast include the following:

  • Spearman, Texas
  • Panhandle, Texas
  • Dumas, Texas

For all three locations, my commentary is the same:  Although forecast highs for the next few days are generally warmer than average, the lows predicted for the next few days pose some risk for chilling injury and/or seedling death. I recommend waiting for warmer temperatures.

Soil temperatures are in the upper 50s to lower 60s in the region.

Note that planting date data suggests April plantings are inconsistent with regard to yield potential. Planting during the second and third week of May have produced more consistent stands and yields in the Texas Panhandle region, on average.

Click the image to download PDF.

2024 Southern HP Planting Conditions Forecast – April 22, 2024

For this forecast, commentary will be added to the Plainview location separate from the other two.

  • Plainview, Texas

Today’s (April 22) forecast includes some rather cool temperatures that are not conducive to rapid emergence — do not plant.

Tuesday and Wednesday of  this week (4/23 and 4/24) offer some warmer temperatures; however, unless planting capacity/total acreage requires otherwise, my recommendation is to wait for warmer temperatures.

The remainder of the week cools down quite a bit, especially Saturday and Sunday (4/27 and 4/28) — do not plant.

  • Lubbock, TX
  • Lamesa, TX

The recommendations for Lubbock and Lamesa areas are similar.  Warmer than average temperatures will tempt producers to put some cottonseed in the ground; however, planting date data suggests that our most consistent yields result when cotton is planted during the last half of May, and in the case of Lamesa, that optimum period extends into early June. Unless producers are worried about losing the soil moisture they currently have, I suggest waiting until May to plant.

Soil temperatures are in the upper 50s to lower 60s following the rainfall the region received over the last week or so. Warmer soil temperatures would be more conducive to rapid emergence.

Click on the image to download the PDF.

I will send out these Planting Conditions Forecasts weekly throughout the planting season to aid planting decisions. These forecasts are not iron-clad, because the weather forecasts change frequently.  However, the purpose of these weekly forecasts is to get growers, and others who consult them, to consider temperature and rainfall forecasts in a logical manner before making the commitment to plant cottonseed, which is one of the highest input costs for a cotton crop.

To obtain information on a specific location (down to the field level), tailored planting conditions forecasts can be accessed from North Carolina State University.  Go to: 
https://products.climate.ncsu.edu/ag/cotton-planting/ 

The map will default to a location in North Carolina, but you can scroll the map to your specific location and click on a field. Click ‘submit’ and the tool will provide a two-day planting conditions forecast with commentary.

I would also suggest that growers know the actual warm and cool germs on their lot(s) of cottonseed. The cool germ especially provides you with important information about realistic expectations on emergence.

Contact your local retailer or seed company representative who can provide you with that critical information.

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Upcoming Events

Northern Panhandle Field Scouting School
Date: April 30, 2024
Location: Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Amarillo

Plains Cotton Growers Advisory Group Meeting
Date: May 10, 2024
Location: PCG Conference Room, Lubbock, Texas

OC Playa Field Day
Date: May 16, 2024
Location: Floyd County Friends Unity Center

Plains Cotton Growers Advisory Group Meeting
Date: May 24, 2024
Location: PCG Conference Room, Lubbock, Texas

 

For a full list of upcoming events, see the Events Page.

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Kara Bishop
In Featured Stories

The Details Behind the 2022 Emergency Relief Program

If you haven’t read PCG CEO Kody Bessent’s take on the new 2022 Emergency Relief Program, click here.

DATES: Funding availability: Application period for Track 1 will begin October 31, 2023. Application period for Track 2 will begin October 31, 2023. Contact your local FSA office for instructions on how to apply for Track 2 — FSA will be mailing out pre-filled applications for Track 1. You may still apply for Track 1 if you do not receive a pre-filled application.

COMMENTS: The U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency will consider comments received by January 2, 2024.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by the following method: Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID FSA–2023–0020.

You may also send comments to the Desk Officer for Agriculture, Office of the Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Washington, DC 20503. Comments will be available for public inspection online at https://www.regulations.gov.

Track Overview

Track 1 will provide a streamlined application process for eligible crop and tree losses during the 2022 or 2023 crop years for which a producer had:

-A Federal crop insurance policy that provided coverage for crop production losses or tree losses related to the qualifying disaster events and received an indemnity for a crop and unit, excluding:

  • crops with an intended use of grazing,
  • livestock policies,
  • forage seeding,
  • Margin Protection Plan policies purchased without a base policy,
  • banana plants insured under the Hawaii Tropical Trees provisions, and
  • policies issued in Puerto Rico; or

-NAP coverage and received a NAP payment for a crop and unit, excluding crops with an intended use of grazing. The applicable Federal crop insurance policies and NAP provide payments to producers for crop and tree losses due to eligible causes of loss, as defined in the producer’s Federal crop insurance policy or NAP regulations and basic provisions. RMA and FSA are using data submitted by producers for Federal crop insurance or NAP purposes to calculate a producer’s eligible loss under Track 1. The Track 1 payment calculation is intended to compensate eligible crop and tree producers for a percentage of that loss determined by the applicable ERP factor, which varies based on the producer’s level of Federal crop insurance or NAP coverage.

Track 2 will provide assistance for eligible revenue, production, and quality losses of eligible crops not included in Track 1 — similar to Phase 2 of the previous ERP program. FSA has determined that the best estimation of such losses is a producer’s decrease in disaster year revenue compared to a benchmark year revenue, where benchmark year revenue represents a producer’s revenue prior to the impact of the qualifying disaster event.

Payment Factoring

According to the notice issued by USDA, progressive factoring will be used to calculate payments. See figure 1.

Figure 1 (click on image to download)

The basic examples used by the notice break down how payments will be calculated.

For example, to apply progressive factoring to a calculated loss (after subtraction of indemnities) of $5,000, FSA would multiply:

  • the first $2,000 by a factor of 100 percent ($2,000 × 100% = $2,000),
  • the second $2,000 by a factor of 80 percent ($2,000 × 80% = $1,600), and
  • the remaining $1,000 by a factor of 60 percent ($1,000 × 60% = $600).

The sum of those calculations is $4,200, which is the calculated ERP 2022 payment after progressive factoring.

For another example, to apply progressive factoring to a calculated loss (after subtraction of indemnities) of $430,000, FSA would multiply:

  • the first $2,000 by a factor of 100 percent ($2,000 × 100% = $2,000),
  • the second $2,000 by a factor of 80 percent ($2,000 × 80% = $1,600),
  • the third $2,000 by a factor of 60 percent ($2,000 × 60% = $1,200),
  • the fourth $2,000 by a factor of 40 percent ($2,000 × 40% = $800),
  • the fifth $2,000 by a factor of 20% ($2,000 × 20% = $400), and
  • the remaining $420,000 by a factor of 10 percent ($420,000 × 10% = $42,000).

The sum of those calculations is $48,000, which is the calculated ERP 2022 payment after progressive factoring.

For underserved producers, the producer’s share of the Federal crop insurance administrative fee and premium will be added to the resulting sum.

For all eligible crop producers, FSA will then apply a final payment factor of 75 percent, resulting in the producer’s calculated Track 1 payment. So in the example above, the $48,000 calculation will be factored by 75% resulting in a payment of $36,000 to the producer. We’ve provided visual aids below, which are available for download.

Click on the image to download.

Click on the image to download.

Kara Bishop
In Featured Stories

2023 Seed Cost Calculator Now Available

The 2023 version of the Plains Cotton Growers Inc. Seed Cost Calculator is available for download on the PCG website at the bottom of the “Resources” page. 

The PCG seed cost calculator is an interactive Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that allows producers to calculate an estimated cost per acre, for both seed and technology, based on published suggested retail prices.

Questions about the tool can be directed to Shawn Wade. 

Download the report here.