Virginia: cooler weekend weather puts cotton planting on hold

Johnny Parker, agronomist with Commonwealth Gin in Windsor, Virginia, posted the following on the gin's web site this morning:

Weekend conditions will remain cool with periods of clouds and sun with some rainfall possible. After a tremendous start on cotton planting, it looks like we are getting a little bit of a break this weekend before very warm and sunny weather return next week. By Tuesday, temperatures are expected to return to the 80’s with warm nights also expected. This will favor continued good performance for the early development of cotton.

This cooler weather we are getting right now should not harm any of the cotton that was planted in warm weather and has already sprouted or emerged; however I would expect that the planting conditions over the weekend with the cold night temperatures would only be marginal at best and in my opinion I would call the next several days poor for planting cotton. It would be better to wait until the first of the week to resume cotton planting. The top medium and early maturing varieties will perform well planted right on through the middle of May and there are 2 or 3 varieties that can be planted successfully after mid-May. If you had planted deep prior to the rain, be prepared to run the pecking rotary hoes early next week.

Commonwealth Gin provides advice on production and marketing of cotton. Information contained herein is from sources believed to be reliable, but is not guaranteed as to accuracy or completeness. No responsibility is assumed with respect to any statement, nor with respect to any expression of opinion herein contained. All views are the opinions of the author and no statement should be construed as an offer to buy or sell a commodity. This publication is for information purposes only.