Cotton: Boll rot is getting pretty bad, and the rain isn’t helping. Several fields we have looked at have lost about a 1/3 of the bolls. The bad thing is there isn’t anything we can do about it now. The cotton that isn’t rotting looks really good. Whiteflies are still hanging around, and I will say that the best spray for whiteflies at this time of year is timely defoliation. Knock those leaves off, and they’ll move on. We need some good cold this winter to help take them out.
Peanuts: Regan and I have been blasting peanuts for about 3 weeks. We have several fields dug, a few picking, and lots more that will be dug after this round of storms pass through. We are checking them here at the office; give us a call to make sure one of us is here. The majority of the peanuts are tracking right where they are supposed to. 06Gs and 18RUs have been hanging around 140, while 12Ys has been hanging around the 150 mark. A few April peanuts went a few days early, but most late April/early May peanuts are hitting their digging day mark. Next week the Georgia Peanut Tour will take place here in Tifton. As of right now, Regan and I will chauffeur 190 people from all over the world around to look at peanuts being dug and picked. (Hopefully, it depends on what this rain we’re projected to get.)
Weather: Long-range forecast shows October to be drier. We are almost halfway through hurricane season, and we haven’t had much activity in the topics, but things are starting to pick up out in the middle Atlantic. Most of those storms are expected to turn back northeast. Fiona, Gaston, and Tobias are probably the coolest hurricane names they have listed for the year.