Time to Put Footprints in Cotton Fields, Scout for Bugs

Jun 18, 2014

Michael Donahoe, University of Florida Extension - Santa Rosa County

Our oldest planted cotton has started squaring and it’s time to start scouting fields for plant bugs. For the past several years the tarnished plant bug has been ranked nationally as the No. 1 cotton insect pest in terms of yield losses.

This has been especially true in the Mid-South where reported losses usually exceed 4 percent. In Florida, plant bugs have traditionally been a minor pest in comparison to other insects such as stinkbugs and bollworms. However, in recent years plant bugs have become more of a problem in some, but not all, fields. It is important to carefully scout each field before making treatment decisions.

Plants that are fruiting normally should be setting at least 80 percent of the first and second fruiting positions on the upper five fruiting branches. However, there are many factors besides plant bugs that can cause poor square retention. If square retention falls below 80 percent, make sure that numerous plant bugs are present before deciding to treat. A sweep net works well for sampling plant bugs in pre-bloom cotton and a drop cloth works well for sampling older fields in bloom. Threshold numbers vary from state to state but most consider 8 bugs/100 sweeps to be “numerous” in pre-bloom cotton and 1 bug/2 row feet using a drop cloth during bloom.

Keep in mind that research has shown there is no benefit from maintaining excessively high square retention rates.

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Border View Farms is a mid-sized family farm that sits on the Ohio-Michigan border. My name is Nathan. I make and edit all of the videos posted here. I farm with my dad, Mark and uncle, Phil. We also have a part-time employee, Brock. My dad started the farm in 1980. Since then we have grown the operation from just a couple hundred acres to over 3,000. Watch my 500th video for a history of our farm I filmed with my dad.

I started making these videos in the fall of 2019 as a way to help show what I do on a daily basis as a farmer. Agriculture is different from any other industry and I believe the more people that are showing their small piece of agriculture, helps to build our story. We face unique challenges and stressful situations but have some of the most rewarding payoffs in the end. I get to spend everyday doing what I love, raising my kids on the farm, and trying to push our farm to be better every year. I hope that I can address questions or concerns that you might have about farms and agriculture.