Source: NCSU COOPERATIVE EXTENSION, 11/30/20


As we all know, every year brings its share of challenges, and 2020 brought us plenty. The 2020 planting season brought cool and excessively wet conditions throughout the entire planting window, which adversely affected cotton acreage in NC, as many growers were forced to take prevented planting, and/or to plant/replant many cotton acres to beans, and the cotton acres that were planted were noticeably later maturing than normal. Plant growth began to show some promise in June, however first bloom for nearly all corners of NC collided with excessive heat and prolonged drought (in many areas) in July. Badly needed rains returned in August, and cotton began setting a strong top crop, albeit a late crop. By Labor Day, our yield potential was strong if we could mature this top crop. Unfortunately, September and early October brought abnormally cooler weather, slowing progress towards maturity.

On the right side, we were able to dodge direct hits from any major tropical storms, and we only had to face remnants of storms that hit the mid-south. Additionally, late October brought warmer weather and most areas did not experience their first frost until early November, which is later than normal for most areas. Surprisingly, we were able to open bolls much better than expected, although these top bolls were smaller than normal. Yields are variable, with some very acceptable yields, and some less than desired. There haven’t been many “home-run” yields this year, for the aforementioned reasons.

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