Cost Cutting - Avoid Duplication in low risk situations.
4-6-2026
There is another exercise for 2026 strategies that reduce cost. That would be to find out where you are using two or three strategies for the same risk. For weed control, we call that layering protection and there are sound arguments for this in high risk situations.
So Here is the strategy: Look at situations where you use several inputs that accomplish the same goal. Analyse the risk you are trying to manage. If it is a low risk issue, or you have a low percentage of your fields at risk but you treat everything, etc, then there is opportunity to strategically lower you cost. Here are some ideas:
- Weed control has already been mentioned and herbicide resistance and palmer are the high risk factors. But for ragweed or goose grass, we have more tools and options that have a lower requirement for overlapping pre-herbicides. Focus on treating foliar applications timely and watch weather.
- Thrips. multiple options are effective, but using all the options is expensive. I would say that stick to your plan A and don't panic. As soon as it warms up, nobody worries about thrips and all the treatments recover.
- Nutrient application when cotton has low nutrient demand. One extreme example is using Nitrogen pre-lant, starter at planting, and topdressing when cotton doesn't even have squares. The demand for nitrogen doesn't begin until a few weeks before bloom. Organic forms of nitrogen (litter or peanut hay) or legume covercrop increae early nitrogen even more and allow for some shift to later application of nitrogen.
Log in at Commonwealth gin for more information or call me and share you ideas.
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