Southwest Georgia Weather Far From Ideal For Growing Cotton in 2023, Yet Harvest Yields a Nice Surprise for One Farmer
USFR-Georgia Cotton Harvest Tour
Neil Lee’s family has tended to the soils in a pocket of southwest Georgia since the 1980s, and he launched his farming career in 2001. The Dalton, Ga., area is ideal for growing corn, peanuts and cotton, and 2023 will be a year to remember.
It was cool and dry when they started planting, Lee says. At the end of May, the temps were still cool, but then it started to rain — five to six inches at a time.
“That made it difficult to get a crop up,” he says.
It was more than sporadic showers that fell across southwest Georgia. Ethan Cody, the agronomist for Lee Farms, says some of the farmground was drowning from so much rain.
Related Story: East-Central Texas Farmer Blown Away By Cotton Yields This Year
“We had anywhere from nine to 12 inches of rain in a week,” Cody says. “From what I saw walking fields and flying a good bit with a drone, I would say we lost somewhere between 7% to 10% of our crop just from washouts.”
Cody says the cool temperatures also stunted the growth early on.
“Normally, on the earlier side of our planting window, I would like to have a stand up within six to eight days of planting,” Cody says. “We had some stuff that was stretched out to 10, 12 or even 14 days. When plants struggle like that coming up, it slows down the entire process after that.”
High Heat
As the crop was recovering from too much rain and cooler temperatures, the area then saw a sudden switch. A heat wave hit the crop, lasting much of summer.
“It was one of the hottest summers I can ever remember,” Lee says. “We changed from cold to one of the hottest summers we've had.”
The heat helped push the crop to maturity after it was stunted from the cool and wet weather early on. They thought harvest would be delayed, but the crop was ready right on time.
“Our yields were all over the board, depending on planting date,” Cody says. “On an average, I’d say we're right at our normal or average crop. There's some phenomenal cotton this year, and we also have some stuff that's disappointing.”
A dry fall with no rain falling on open bolls was beneficial for the crop.
“Last year the dryland crop yields were off,” Lee says. “We had some good irrigated yields last year. This year, I think the dryland yields are way better than last year.”
"Money Bolls" at the Bottom
The one bonus growers in the area saw this year is the fact bolls filled up on the bottom of the plant.
“It's always been said the bottom crop is your ‘money bolls,’” Cody says. “Most years we don't really get to count on that fully, but it provided a bump to our yields.”
On average, Cody says they lose 50% to 60% of the bottom third of the crop to boll rot. This year, in the worst-case scenario, a 20% loss is the highest.
While plant bug pressure was heavy early on, it was tame during the growing season due to the dry weather. However, it’s the damage done early from the cool weather that is of most concern when harvest rolls around.
“You may have some areas in a field doing three bales or better, but when you factor in the average for the total acres, and 10% of those acres lost to poor stand counts, that’s impacting our final yield,” Cody says.
High-Quality Cotton Due to Dry Weather
While the lack of rain later in the season resulted in better grades and quality at the gin, Lee says they’re not getting paid a premium due to the dampened demand for cotton at home and around the globe.
“I wish more people would wear more cotton and it would be put in stores,” he says. “I wish people would look at labels on clothes and wear more cotton and realize where polyester is made and where it comes from.”
As Lee reflects back on 2023, it was an average year in terms of yield, but his plea for consumers to buy and support American-grown cotton, a natural fiber that he hopes will continue to be the fabric of our lives.
U.S. Farm Report and AgDay are hitting the fields to check on cotton harvest progress and yields with the 2023 Cotton Harvest Tour this year, which is sponsored by Deltapine®. The tour is visiting farmers in east-central Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, and wrapping up in West Texas.
