From staff reports Oklahoma cotton has faced some ups and downs over the years, and Americot’s Red River Regional Manager Shane Osborne said this year’s cotton crop is no different. Established in 1987, Americot is a “leading supplier of premium cotton seed” headquartered in Lubbock, Texas, the company’s website states.
Osborne spent time analyzing the statewide cotton outlook, which is gauged off dryland fields, and he said that things look bleak across most of the state. Rain has fallen in areas along Interstate 40, from Erick to Oklahoma City, and that will produce the bulk of the dryland cotton for Oklahoma this year.
“It’s a pretty tough year,” Osborne admitted. “What matters the most out in the field is the very end of the season. The plant doesn’t really fruit up heavily until August, and a lot of money rides on how August and early September treat us, and it was not very well at all this year.”
Osborne said irrigation systems are only supplemental, but cotton producers rely heavily on rainfall. “But this season, irrigation systems could not handle such high temperatures with little to no precipitation,” he said.
With the cotton harvest approximately 10% complete, and irrigated crops taking harvest priority, Osborne hopes to see rainfall aid cover crops and small grains for 2025, even though it might negatively impact cotton.
On Oct. 16, Osborne attended a cotton meeting in Elk City, where producers enjoyed a tour of various cotton varieties — including a few still in development stages.
“We had a very good turnout,” he said. “We brought in a drone applicator outfit, who sells and services drones. That made it more interesting and added something else for the growers to look at.”
Of the newly released varieties, Bollgard 3 ThryvOn Xtendflex 4405, a medium- maturity variety, has proven to be more heat-tolerant. Bollgard 3 Xtendflex 5430, a longer-season variety, has also done well on dryland acres. Bollgard 3 Xtendflex 3457, an early maturing variety has done well on dryland but performed exceptionally well on irrigated acres.
“This is a good year to test heat tolerance,” Osborne said. “As bad as it is, it is really a great indicator of what we are seeing in our genetics.”