Cotton has been very slow growing this season. Even though the last week provided some good cotton weather, limited moisture and earlier cool temperatures have kept many fields from reaching their expected growth stage. Cotton across our area varies from the cotyledon stage to three true leaves.

Thrips:
Thrips are slender, straw colored insects about 1/15 inch long, with piercing and sucking mouthparts. Adults are winged and capable of drifting long distances in the wind. Thrips attack leaves, leaf buds and very small squares and may cause a silvering of the lower leaf surface, deformed or blackened leaves, terminal loss and square loss. Under some conditions, heavy infestations may reduce stands, stunt plants and delay fruiting and maturity. Thrips damage is most evident during cool, wet periods when small cotton is growing slowly. Thrips damage often is further compounded by plant damage resulting from rain, wind, blowing sand and diseases.

Early infestations often reduce yield more than later infestations. Thrips often infest the folded small leaves of the plant terminal and are difficult to count unless the terminal area is dissected. This is especially true during rainy, windy conditions. The decision to apply insecticideshould be based on the number of thrips present and the stage of plant development.

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Cotton was in the fourth true leaf stage. See table near the end of the news letter.

Cotton Boll Weevil Numbers:
Since April 29, the Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation has captured only 3 weevils in Terry County and none in Yoakum County. These numbers are very promising. I think it is widely agreed that there will be much less spraying for boll weevils this season than was previously expected. I encourage you to keep in touch with the Field Unit Supervisor (FUS) for your farms and work with them to keep these numbers down. One very important thing will be to eliminate volunteer cotton, or stray cotton in fields which are "lost" to hail, wind or drought. Even a few stray plants can serve as a nursery to breed cotton boll weevils, thus slowing the move to eradication.

What is IPM?
IPM or Integrated Pest Management is a strategy of managing pests that is designed to meet an individuals production goals in the most economically and environmentally sound manner possible using a combination of control tactics.

IPM is a systematic, information-intensive approach which depends upon an understanding of the entire production system. It strives to use several complimentary tactics or control methods to manage pests which makes the system more stable and subject to less production risks. IPM focuses on tactics that will prevent or avoid anticipated pest problems rather than remediate problems once they occur.

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