Expected Conditions for Defoliation in Southeast Virginia 9-29-2022 Ultimately we have defoliated a good bit of the ready fields although still we will have plenty getting ready next week. I am still seeing a third of the crop that will need these warm days coming in October to finish out the top as well as the June planted fields. The characteristics of the fields we need to wait on are: better rain on better soils during the second half of August, high yielding fields that got 48 inches, or fields that had weather or pest compensation. The next Defoliation Update will be after the storm
Next week:
Defoliation Material selection: Next week
Johnny's Blog
Ian's Impact for Virginia. 9-29-22 Agriculture in the region is preparing for a significant rain event that will last 3 to 5 days. For cotton we have defoliated around a third of the crop and several hundred acres have been picked. Pretty good progress for September. The largest concern from these tropical systems for cotton is when they occur while the bottom cotton bolls are trying to open and the system stays around for a long period of time, usually longer than a week creating hard-lock. High wind is the second most damaging problem and heavy rain is third. The forecasts coming from the Norfolk/VaBeach media will predict higher wind than we see in the crop areas except for perhaps the areas close to the Nansemond and James Rivers. If this storm follows the consensus of the models in place now, we are supposed to get the most rain on Friday and then perhaps a lower chance on Saturday before exiting on Monday or Tuesday with lesser amounts of rain. It usually takes 3 days of constant wettness for hardlock to occur, so any drying in between time will reset the hard-lock clock. Also, I think the bolls in the top are at less risk for hard-lock plus the undefoliated plants have already lost more than half their leaves which improves drying. Hopefully this will not be a memorable event. I hate it when you can recall the name of a storm for the rest of your life. Our thoughts and prayers certainly go out to Florida.
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