Considering potential track of storm, pick defoliated cotton as it is more susceptible. Peanuts – “I would dig early if defoliation from leaf spot is more than 50% or damage from white mold approaches 50%“, Kemerait. Example – Maturity check on 144 day old 06’s this morning showed 7 days to dig. None shelled out that were turning loose in hull and vines looked good (little if any leafspot, light white mold, some TSWV). Very few white and yellow peanuts in sample. These peanuts will probably be inverted after storm next week. If decision is made to dig peanuts before storm, dig as late as possible, just before storm so vines and stems will still be green and pliable allowing peanuts to remain on vines during bad weather. Maturity checks at Lenox Peanut Tues and Thurs 9 – 11 AM. Other days usually at office. Tucker Price 507-8862

Cotton Defoliation (9/23/24) – Camp Hand
“Lots of uncertainty right now, but one thing is for certain – Invest 97L is likely to become a major hurricane and it is headed north.
Arguments could be made one way or another on what growers need to do in terms of defoliating or not. But one thing is for certain, the cotton that is already defoliated is most susceptible to losses due to this storm. I would encourage growers to pick what has been defoliated before Thursday.
As for whether to defoliate or not, I reckon growers already have their minds made up on what their efforts will be focused towards through Wednesday. However, Dr. Guy Collins did some work last year (inspired by myself and Dr. Roberts). At the end of the day, these results confirm what we know: 1. Cotton that is defoliated is more susceptible to losses from a hurricane and 2. Cotton varieties that are more loose in the burr are more susceptible to losses from a hurricane.
If I were trying to decide where to focus my efforts headed towards Wednesday, I would focus on fields that are defoliated, and start with “loose” varieties (i.e. DP 2127 B3XF, AR 9831 B3XF, and others).
Tropical Storm and Cotton and Peanuts – Bob Kemerait
1. IF you have growers contemplating a fungicide application on peanuts before the anticipated rains, I would factor in a) how long until digging and b) how much disease is in the field. Just because a storm may come doesn’t mean we need to spray.
2. I would consider whether or not a fungicide is justified for cotton and areolate mildew. THAT depends on a) time until defoliation, b) current state of the crop, and, sadly, how much damage might occur from the storm.
3. To dig or not to dig? I would not dig early because of tomato spotted wilt- I would wait for harvest maturity. I would dig early if defoliation from leaf spot is more than 50% or damage from white mold approaches 50%. I would rather the peanuts be in the ground as a storm hits, unless disease (as above) is such that the threat of losses following the storm is too great. In that case I would dig before the storm.
Spider Mites in September Peanut – Mark Abney

Two spotted spider mites are widespread in Georgia peanut fields as we approach the final weeks of the 2024 growing season. Spider mites thrive in hot, dry conditions, and they are often more abundant in fields where broad spectrum insecticides have been applied. The recent cooler, cloudy, rainy conditions in the state may have slowed mite population development, but the sun is shining now and mites are doing just fine. Decisions about spider mite management will be made on a field by field basis taking into account the current mite pressure, the condition of the field, and the time to harvest. Finding and treating mites before the population gets huge is important. If mites were present in July or August, treating them would be a no-brainer. When the mites show up in mid-September, it is not so easy. We are closer to digging, days are getting shorter, and temperatures are hopefully lower. Whether a low-level mite infestation will explode into a major problem in any given field in the coming days is impossible to know. Fields with less than two weeks to dig that are in decent shape will probably be fine even if the mites get heavy. I would be reluctant NOT to treat mites in fields with three weeks or more weeks to go before digging.
Detailed Info About Potential Storm
Potential major hurricane heads north towards Florida Panhandle – Pam Knox, Director of the UGA Weather Network and Agricultural Climatologist
Over the last day, the area of potential development in the western Caribbean has become much more organized and has been designated as Invest 97 by the National Hurricane Center. This designation means the disturbance has become well-enough established to provide meaningful data about where the storm might go, although there is still a lot of uncertainty until the storm becomes better organized. The current guidance shows that the storm, which is likely to be named Helene in a day or two, is expected to move north from its current position and approach the northern Gulf Coast by Thursday or Friday this week. Note that the timing has moved up so the impacts from the storm may also start to occur a little earlier than previously thought. Here are some things to note:
- The storm could make landfall anywhere from Mobile east to Tampa, but the place with the highest probability at the moment is Apalachicola in the western Florida panhandle. This could still change over time. In 2022, Hurricane Ian was predicted to take a similar path before swerving to the right and hitting Fort Myers, FL instead. We don’t expect that to occur this time, but significant changes in the path are still possible. The skill of the computer models is limited as long as there is no closed low and they don’t have dropsonde information from hurricane hunter planes to get the vertical temperature structure and winds in the developing storm.
- The largest impacts will be along and to the right of the track that the storm eventually takes, so any change in the predicted path will mean changes in the impacts at any spot in that area. Impacts include gusty winds potentially up to hurricane strength, storm surge along the coast, and some brief tornadoes, especially associated with the spiral bands of convection. Some paths bring rain of up to several inches over parts of Georgia and Alabama, including Atlanta in at least a few projections.
- The timing of when the storm makes landfall depends on how quickly it develops. If it develops quickly, it will move more to the right, which would mean the west coast of Florida would be in play. If it develops slowly, then a more westward path is more likely. In some scenarios it could reach the Gulf Coast as soon as Thursday, although many hold it back until Friday. Impacts will start to occur a day or so before landfall, so I expect to see the outer rain bands from the storm start to affect the coast by Wednesday night. There will be non-Helene rain falling in northern Georgia and Alabama and points north of that associated with frontal activity earlier in the week, not from the hurricane.
- The Gulf of Mexico has a loop of very warm water right where the storm is expected to move, which could enhance the storm development and make it strengthen quickly as it approaches the coast. Now it is expected to be a Category 1 or 2 hurricane but rapid intensification is possible and some models show it as a category 3 or 4 at landfall.
Farmers and others in the Florida Panhandle, southern Alabama and Georgia, and the northwest coast of the Florida Peninsula should now be preparing rapidly for the storm to impact their area, since it has become much more clear that the storm will hit somewhere in their area. By the time the storm becomes named, it may be only a day or two before landfall. It should be dry in those areas until Wednesday afternoon, but after that rainfall will increase and could become heavy in some locations. It will start raining earlier if the storm speeds up. There may be some dry conditions after the storm passes, but more rain is now expected after that, although at lighter levels. There is still quite a bit of uncertainty about the path, strength, and timing of the storm, but by the time the track becomes clear it may not provide enough time for the producers to take care of harvesting cotton and peanuts ahead of the storm. You can ask your local Extension agents for help in determining the best course of action in the days leading up to the approach of the storm.
If you are planning an event or a vacation along the Gulf Coast, you should watch the forecasts carefully to see what the likely weather will be at the time of the event and make appropriate changes if the risk of dangerous weather is too high, but that will differ for each situation and location. Some of the paths take the center of the storm over Atlanta and NW Georgia so even if you are not near the coast you could be affected by bad weather, especially if the storm intensifies before landfall. I am sure that some of you are wondering about the Georgia-Alabama game on Saturday (and I will be in Birmingham that day for the UAB-Navy game), but James Spann, the Birmingham meteorologist, says that so far he thinks they will not be affected. Also note that a wave coming off the coast of Africa this week is expected to become a Cape Verde hurricane in less than a week and could affect us in a couple of weeks, so the tropical season is definitely not over yet.

