2021 OK RACE Trial Report
Monday, April 11, 2022
The majority of Oklahoma’s cotton acreage experienced cooler and wetter planting conditions from early May through the end of the dryland planting window in mid-June. While the moisture was favorable for emergence, it did result in delays in early season growth. This caused additional thrips control measures to be employed in many areas, particularly on fields planted to cotton with only a base (fungicide only) seed treatment. The delayed growth also set the stage for maturity concerns throughout the summer. Most areas of western Oklahoma were behind on accumulated heat units from May through August. This, combined with many areas also receiving above-average rainfall during two or three of these months, delayed early season growth, fueled excessive vegetative growth and delayed the onset of the flowering period. This setback in development was evident when checking the node of the first fruiting branch. Generally, we observed that the first fruiting branch was one to two nodes higher, regardless of variety and location, compared to these same values recorded on the same varieties and locations in previous years. The overall delay in maturity was still present as August came to an end, typically a period when the earliest set bolls are beginning to crack, and some natural leaf aging is visibly evident. However, in 2021 the crop entered September with lush green foliage and minimal open bolls (if any) throughout much of the state.