What should be the soil temperature at planting time?
Ideally, the seedbed should be at least 68º F at the two inch depth, with dry weather and at least 50 DD-60s expected in the next 5 days.
Planting into cold soils increases the likelihood of chilling injury to seedlings, weak and variable stands and replanting. Replanting is expensive, can complicate herbicide and insecticide programs and delay maturity.
Generally this will be the last week of April or the first week of May. Some years differ and common sense must apply.
|
Thirty Year Average DD60
Accumulation By Week |
|
| WEEK | DD60s |
| April 9-15 | 28.7 |
| April 16-22 | 45.6 |
| April 23-29 | 48.4 |
| April 30-May 6 | 53.8 |
| May 7-13 | 71.0 |
| May 13-20 | 85.2 |
Publications
News
The 2018 Mississippi State University Row Crop Short Course will feature speakers from seven states covering topics ranging from nematode management in cotton and soybeans to the potential effects of new tariffs on the state's agricultural industry.
Most of Mississippi’s corn and rice crops had been harvested when prolonged, late-September rains soaked much of the state, but the wet weather could not have come at a worse time for soybeans and cotton.
As most cotton across Mississippi is setting bolls ahead of schedule this year, some fields look fantastic and others are struggling, depending on the weather and irrigation.
Lonnie Fortner has been named the Mississippi winner of the 2018 Swisher Sweets/Sunbelt Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year award.
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Growers may be on their way to planting more cotton in Mississippi soil than they have in 11 years, despite a late start.
Darrin Dodds, cotton specialist for the Mississippi State University Extension Service, estimated that growers will plant 700,000 acres of cotton this year. If that much gets harvested, it will be the best total since 2006, when the state produced 1.2 million acres of cotton. Last year, Mississippi cotton producers harvested 625,000 acres.
