North Alabama cotton planting delayed by cold

A little cotton has been planted in north Alabama, but the area is "way behind" where it normally is with the crop for mid April, said Charlie Burmester, Extension Cotton Agronomist in Belle Mina.

"We're getting close to what typically is our peak planting time here," Burmester told us today. "Cold weather has partly held things up, and they're predicting more cold weather again this weekend. Our acreage in north Alabama also could be down by nearly 50%, so there's not quite as much rush as there normally might be."

Growers also are assessing potential damage to corn and wheat after the Easter weekend freeze, he added. "A lot of decisions will be made next week about whether to keep corn stands or replant," Burmester said. "They're going to give priority, I think, to replanting corn, if it's necessary. They'll also determine whether to take wheat fields to harvest or, instead, put the land in something else right away. Some of that may go into beans. But there's also talk of planting cotton to take advantage of nitrogen that was applied to wheat."

Subscribe to AgFax: Southern Grain or our other free reports covering cotton, rice and peanuts.