Keep It or Replant?
Online Information Helps Farmers Evaluate Their Options

Writer: Tim W. McAlavy, (806) 746-6101
Contact: Randy Boman or Calvin Trostle, (806) 746-6101

LUBBOCK – South Plains farmers with damaged or failed cotton acres have some hard decisions to make
in the next two weeks. Some will take their chances with what’s left in the field. Others will simply have to
plow it under and try again.

“Those who are wandering about replanting should read Making Replant Decisions, Effects of Stand Loss
and Skips on Cotton Yields, and Cotton Variety Considerations Under Replant Conditions,” said Randy
Boman, Texas Cooperative Extension cotton agronomist based at Lubbock. These publications are
available at county Extension offices or on the Internet at: http://lubbock.tamu.edu/cotton.

“Farmers should evaluate the plant density in damaged fields before deciding to zero-out those acres. If
you’ve still got a stand of at least 1½ healthy plants per foot of row, you should consider sticking with the
crop. Given good growing conditions, it could still make acceptable yields,” Boman said. “If you decide to
zero it out, be sure and double check your replanting options  -- so you will remain in compliance with farm
program regulations.”

Farmers with failed cotton acres still have time to plant a catch crop such as grain sorghum, sunflowers,
soybeans, guar, sesame, peas and beans, said Calvin Trostle, Extension agronomist based at Lubbock.

Trostle’s 2003 Alternative Crop Options After Failed Cotton and Late-Season Crop Planting for the
Texas South Plains provides more information on these crops, as well as some summer forages. It is
available from local county Extension offices, and on the Internet at http://lubbock.tamu.edu under the
“What’s New” section.
 
“First, check the label of any cotton herbicide you’ve already applied. The label will list any crop rotation
restrictions that might affect your replanting options. Cotton herbicides such as Treflan, Prowl, Caparol,
Cotoran, Karmex, Diuron and Staple can cause carryover herbicide injury to some crops,” Trostle said.
“One option in that scenario is to set the planter to break-out and remove the herbicide-treated soil, so the
new seed is planted in untreated soil.

“That’s especially true if you’ll be planting grain sorghum after failed cotton. You’ll also want to keep the
herbicide-treated soil away from new plants while cultivating the new crop, for awhile at least. If you
applied Dual herbicide, you can plant safened grain sorghum seed and have little risk of plant injury.”

The cut-off date for planting medium maturity grain sorghum hybrids falls between June 25 and July 5,
while early-maturity hybrids can be planted as late as July 15. Late-planted grain sorghum is more
susceptible to insect damage, so it may require insecticide applications, the agronomist added.

“We can plant soybeans as late as July 10 and still expect to make a crop, even though later planting
reduces yield potential. Farmers should plant early- to mid-maturity group IV soybeans before June 25, and
then switch to an early group IV or late-maturity group III variety for later planting,” Trostle said. “Later
planting retards stalk growth and can make it hard to harvest the lowest seed pods, but using a higher
seeding rate and narrow rows may encourage higher pod-set.”

Confectionary or oilseed sunflowers are another option -- contracts for both are readily available to South
Plains farmers, he added.

“Our recommended last planting dates for oilseed or confectionary sunflowers are June 5 for producers in
Baily, Castro and Parmer Counties. That goes to July 10 in Briscoe, Cochran, Crosby, Floyd, Hale,
Hockley, Lamb, Lubbock, Terry and Yoakum counties. July 15 is the cutoff date for Andrews, Borden,
Dawson, Garza, Gaines, Howard, Lynn, Martin, Mitchell and Scurry counties,” he said. “Oilseed
sunflowers are cheaper to produce than confectionary sunflowers, and a later planting date can reduce the
need to treat for head moths.”

Guar is best suited for dryland production on ground that has few weed problems. It is tolerant of yellow
herbicides used in cotton production, but there are few other herbicides available for weed control in this
crop, Trostle said.

“There are three varieties of Guar available right now. We can plant these as late as July 4 on the South
Plains, but June 20th is a more favorable cut-off planting date,” he said. “Under average field conditions,
dryland guar produces between 400 and 1,100 pounds per acre. Guar seed should be inoculated with guar-
specific Rhizobium, using a sticking agent, for best results.”

Drought- and insect-resistant sesame is another option for producers, from Lubbock south to Big Spring.
Sesame should be planted on 30-inch rows, from late May to late June, and need 95 growing days before
the first frost. It can be grown with existing farm equipment, but no herbicides are labeled for use in
sesame. Dryland sesame can make 500 to 900 pounds per acre, Trostle noted, while irrigated ground may
produce 1,000 to 1,500 pounds per acre.

Peas and beans such as black-eyes, purple hulls, pink-eye cowpeas, pinto beans and green beans, are also
an option, if producers can secure a production contract.

Producers can get estimated crop production budgets for several alternate crops from their county
Extension agent. Brand names appearing in this article are used for product identification. No endorsement
is intended, nor is criticism of similar products not mentioned.