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GENERAL SITUATION: Field moisture currently is adequate to more than adequate for planting cotton and grain sorghum in most locations around the LRGV. Some pre-plant irrigations have been made to a limited number of fields which were or are going to be planted to seed corn. Reports of some fields being too wet to work equipment also have been received over the last couple of weeks. Crop planting continued this week. Corn planting is about to wind down and sorghum planting is increasing. No additional reports of cotton planting were received this week. It is still a little early to plant cotton, especially with the predictions of more cold and possibly wet weather to come this weekend and early next week. The overall moisture situation is considerably different than the farmers in the LRGV have seen in a number of years. The spring of 1997 was wet starting in early March and it rained until early May. This year seems to be headed in the right direction with good soil moisture both at the top and bottom sides of the soil profile. Boll weevil activity remains. Weevils have been reported in traps from all across the LRGV and likely will continue to do so until cotton begins to reach squaring stage. During periods of cool weather, similar to what we just experienced, weevil numbers will be low. Warmer periods such as Monday and Tuesday of this week will see higher captures of weevils. If you are aware of old cotton stalks near your operations, you still should try to eliminate them. Call the Texas Department of Agriculture or talk to the neighbor whom you know has the stalks in his field and try to get them destroyed. Even at this late date, removal of those stalks will help since it is still at least two months before general cotton plantings will have squares. So, if possible, clean out the old stalks to lower the number of weevils that will go to newly squaring cotton. In short, there is never a bad time to remove old cotton stalks, it is just that destruction of stalks immediately after harvesting still is the best timing because it does the most damage to boll weevils. THE INFORMATION GIVEN HEREIN IS FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. REFERENCES TO COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS OR TRADE NAMES ARE MADE WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT NO DISCRIMINATION IS INTENDED AND NO ENDORSEMENT BY THE COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE IS IMPLIED. 
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Educational
programs conducted by the Texas Agricultural Extension Service serve people
of all ages regardless of socioeconomic level, race, color, sex, religion,
disability or national origin.
The Texas A&M
University System, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the County Commissioners
Courts of Texas Cooperating.
Grain
sorghum is up and growing all over the LRGV this week. A little sorghum
was yet to be planted, but most was in the ground by the end
of this week. Insect activity was very light in sorghum, but could change.