Plant Growth Regulators: Why & How We Use Them

Selective breeding is a powerful tool. It has allowed us to take cotton, a perennial bush, and breed it to be cotton, an annual field crop. Sometimes however, breeding can’t do everything for us. Sometimes we need to rely on other means to achieve a good harvest at the end of the year. That’s why we have tools like plant growth regulators, commonly referred to as PGRs.

Why do we use PGRs?

Different types of PGRs exist, but the PGRs we use on our farm allow us to prevent the excessive vegetative growth of the cotton plant. Despite hundreds of years of selective breeding, cotton still has some tendencies of a perennial bush, and PGRs allow us to control those tendencies, resulting in an overall better harvest. When a cotton plant puts too much focus on growing leaves and branches, it doesn’t produce as many flowers, which will turn into bolls. Those bolls are what we harvest from the cotton plant, which is where the cotton lint is housed. We want our cotton to focus more on producing bolls than producing too many leaves because in the end, we get paid by how much lint is harvested. Under certain conditions, cotton plants will actually cannibalize young bolls to put on more vegetative growth. This is the exact opposite of what we want.

Another factor PGRs let us manage is the maturity of the bolls. Unlike corn which stops growing vegetation once it enters its reproduction cycle (also known as a determinate plant), most cotton varieties are indeterminate plants, meaning they can still put on more leaves and branches even after they have started to set bolls on lower branches. This is a challenge for farmers because the bolls on the bottom of the plant could be ripe weeks in advance of those on the top of the plant without the proper use of PGRs. This can result in bolls that are either 1) ruined by overexposure to the weather for bolls at the bottom of the plant or 2) left in the field because they aren’t ripe at harvest for bolls at the top of the plant. This, again, results in money lost for the farmer.

How do we know if/when to use PGRs?

Cotton will often start to take off growing when the weather is wet and cooler than normal. Throughout the cotton’s life cycle, we monitor closely the length of the main stalk between branches, known as the internode. While the actual length at which farmers determine to use a PGR depends on many factors, the practice of measuring the internodes for excessive growth is common throughout the Cotton Belt. If the length of the internode exceeds the recommended length for our expected yield, geography and length of season, we will administer an application of a PGR.

How do we use PGRs?

Like other chemical applications we make to our cotton, we apply the PGR using our sprayer at the recommended rate. We pay close attention to the amount applied to the cotton so that we don’t waste money on over-applying a chemical that could adversely affect the crop. Spraying too much or too often with PGRs is detrimental to growing cotton because it can result in a plant without enough leaves to fuel the production of flowers and bolls.

As with any chemical application farmers use on a crop, it is a careful balance between not spraying and spraying too much. Farmers monitor their crops very closely to determine if and when a chemical application may be needed to control the loss of yield. They will then have to determine if the loss of yield would result in a greater economic impact than the price of the chemical. It is tricky, but that’s what make farmers great at their job. They don’t just throw money (aka chemical) at crops if the crop doesn’t need it.

Above: Here's an inside view of the sprayer. This monitor controls the autosteer, which allows the operator to make the application without overlapping. Autosteer is controlled through GPS and is accurate within inches! The GPS follows the sprayer through the field, tracking what has been sprayed and what hasn't. As the sprayer reaches a place that has been sprayed, the booms of the sprayer will stop spraying based on what the GPS tells them. This has allowed for much more targeted and precise application of chemicals.

Above: Another photo taken from the cab of the boom applying the PGR to the cotton. Most of the liquid being sprayed is water with just a very small portion of the solution being the actual PGR. 

And here's my adorable husband riding comfortably in the sprayer - no crazy white suit necessary! 

What questions do you have about PGRs, growing cotton, or applying chemicals to crops? 

Cotton Closeup

We don't get many dewy mornings here in the Texas Panhandle so when I woke up to a foggy morning, I knew what I had to do: take my camera, my new macro lens and get to a cotton field ASAP.

Let me tell you. I was not disappointed! It was a photographer's dream morning with soft light and a nice amount of dew (at least for the Panhandle). It was also a plant nerd's dream with the cotton blooming and setting bolls. In case you aren't familiar with cotton lingo, the cotton lint (think of a cotton ball you might use for removing nail polish) come from the bolls. Bolls are super important on cotton plants because that's what we harvest so the more bolls, the better.

Without further ado, here are the closeups I managed to shoot on that glorious morning, sprinkled with some cotton reproduction information.

This funny looking growth is called a square. It actually has three little "leaves," which has always made me question why it is called a square when there are three. I digress. Squares hold the buds of cotton flowers.

When cotton flowers first bloom, they are a beautiful creamy white color, which they will remain until they are pollinated. Cotton can either self-pollinate or be cross-pollinated by pollinator insects like bees. As you can see in the above and below photo, the flower will start to change colors once pollination and fertilization occur.

The flower above is advancing well into pollination as you can see by the pink hue of the flower.

Once fertilization is complete, the cotton flower becomes a vibrant pink to purple color and closes up. Now it is working to produce a boll, where the seed and cotton lint will be housed.

Above and below are cotton bolls. Above you can see the flower still attached to the top of the boll. This eventually falls off to reveal a pretty round boll, like below. When we are closer to harvest, these bolls will pop open to reveal pretty white cotton lint, which will be made into lots of blue jeans!

I'm often fascinated by the intricacies of life, but few things are as amazing to me as the leaf. This cotton leaf edge shows the detail of one simple leaf. This leaf will turn sunlight into food and produce flowers that eventually produce lint that I wear around daily. How awesome is that?!

Cotton is a pretty drought-tolerant crop. It definitely knows how to hold on to the water it gets. Just look at the pools in its leaves!

Above is unhealthy cotton leaf with a grasshopper on it. It is hard to say exactly what happened to this leaf, but some kind of stress occurred. As farmers, we try to keep our plants from getting stressed, but sometimes, nature has other ideas.

Does anyone have any questions concerning cotton reproduction or production in general? I'd be happy to answer!

Freeze!

In case you hadn't gathered from previous posts, I'm really excited about my first cotton harvest! Today, I found the coolest video shot from a UAV (or drone) of harvesting cotton. I was hopeful it would quench my harvest thirst, but like any good farmer, I'm still chomping at the bit to get into cotton harvest. It is a struggle, but there is hope!

A month ago, I wrote about our cotton crop growing up. I have since learned that cotton takes a long time to reach maturity without a good freeze. Normally in the Texas Panhandle, we've had a hard frost by the end of October or early part of November. This year, our freeze held off until the night of November 10. Fun story: It was 81 degrees on November 10 with a low of 18. How 'bout that bipolar weather?! I read an article this morning from Texas AgriLife about the freeze and the effect it had on cotton in the South Plains. While where are located isn't exactly the South Plains, the rest of the article holds pretty true. This freeze put a hard stop on our cotton, and now once it dries out from the snow we got, we should be in good shape to start stripping cotton. I'm so excited! I obviously can't hide it.

What does that mean for you? Soon, we'll get cotton stripping pictures! And I'll finally get to talk about strippers! Thank goodness! The wait has been killing me! But until then, here are a couple more photos of our cotton, pre-freeze.

With the frost, I'm hopeful the remaining unopened bolls (that big green round thing) will pop open so we can harvest the cotton from them.

We still had plenty of leaves and unopened bolls left on these plants when I took these photos a couple of weeks ago. The frost will get rid of the remaining green parts, making harvest much easier.

Big boll for a dryland cotton corner. 5 compartments!

This is the 18th day (posted on the 20th day of November) of my 30 Days of Texas Panhandle Agriculture series. To read more, please visit this introduction post. If you have questions or ideas you'd like me to write about concerning Texas Panhandle agriculture, I'd love to hear from you!

Cow Cud

Over the last two weeks during my 30 Days of Texas Panhandle Agriculture series, I've talked about beef, corn, cotton and sorghum. Back in October, I wrote about our wheat growing and fencing off the corn stalks. What do all of these things have in common?

Prepare to be amazed......

At some stage in all of our crops, they can be used as feedstuffs for beef cattle on our farm. Now I'm sure you think I'm crazy since you've never seen a cow eat a cotton boll. It's true. I'm sure the actual boll isn't super tasty for them, but I digress.

Like I discussed in my posts about corn and sorghum (milo), both of those grains are often used as feed for cattle. Generally, corn and milo is taken to a feed mill where it is processed to make it more palatable for the cattle. Both could be fed as a raw material, but it would be similar to us eating raw oatmeal. We could eat it, but it is way better when it has been cooked for a bowl of breakfast or baked into oatmeal cookies. Oatmeal retains its nutritional value once it has been cooked. That's what feed mills strive to do for corn and milo.

In addition to feeding the harvested corn once it has been milled, we fence off our corn stalks after we have harvested the grain and let our cows graze the remnants. Combine harvesters aren't perfect at getting all of the corn and some falls to the ground. The cows will eat that lost grain and keep it from going to waste. They also do a good job of chewing on the stalks themselves, which helps us in the long run. How? Our cows are doing the work of a plow, saving us fuel for the tractor that would pull the plow and also reducing the risk of soil erosion. Plus, they are "fertilizing" with their "cowpies," if you smell what I'm stepping in. It is a win-win situation.

When I was talking about sorghum, I mentioned two types of sorghum: grain and forage. Forage sorghum is also used as a feedstuff for cattle. We grow a type of forage sorghum that we make into hay. This hay is high in nutrients our cattle need, and they like the taste of it. Other farmers may graze their cattle directly on a field of forage sorghum, or they may harvest the forage sorghum to make silage.

Moving on to the craziness of cattle eating cotton... Like I mentioned above, we don't feed the cattle the actual white fluffy stuff (fiber) used for making blue jeans. One, the cattle don't really like it that much. Two, that is important for blue jeans! During the process of ginning cotton (getting it ready to weave), the gin removes a lot of trash (consisting of leaves, the burr or what holds the fiber to the plant, and seeds) from the actual fibers themselves. While some of the trash really is trash, the seed is not trashy at all. In fact, cotton seeds are a good source of nutrients for cattle so, similar to corn and milo, the cotton seeds are sent to feed mills to be milled into cattle feed.

Also similar to corn, we sometimes will graze our cotton stalks after the cotton has been stripped. We don't necessarily graze cotton stalks every year, but during years of drought or limited pasture, our cotton stalks offer another option for us to recycle and reuse.

It's time for wheat's turn! My favorite! While we don't often graze our wheat on our farm, many farmers in Oklahoma and Texas choose to because winter wheat (planted in the fall for harvest in early summer) offers great nutrients to cattle over the winter months when normal pastures aren't growing. Wheat pasture often serves as the in-between time for calves once they are weaned and before they go to the feedlot. During this time, the calves are given full access to as much wheat as they can eat, and seeing as how calves like to eat, they generally gain weight efficiently on wheat. Some farmers choose to completely graze their wheat out so they leave calves on it until it stops growing. Other farmers want both grazing and grain from their wheat (called dual-purpose wheat) so they will move the calves off the wheat at a certain wheat growth stage to reduce damage to the developing grain. Those farmers will then harvest the grain from the field just like they would have if they hadn't grazed it.

In the media and in the supermarket, the words "grass-fed" and "grain-fed" are thrown around a whole bunch. It is important to note that all cattle spend most of their lives eating grass of some species, whether that grass is forage sorghum, wheat or native pasture. The difference is really in the final "finishing," whether the cattle are finished on grass or finished on grain. I'm not here to say one is right and one is wrong for every farm and ranch. I will say, however, for our farm, feeding grain to our cattle gives us ample opportunities to reuse what might have been wasted, like corn stalks and cotton seed.

And to that, eat beef!

This is the 14th day of my 30 Days of Texas Panhandle Agriculture series. To read more, please visit this introduction post. If you have questions or ideas you'd like me to write about concerning Texas Panhandle agriculture, I'd love to hear from you!

Baby Got (Stacks of Blue Jeans)

Anyone who has ever lived or worked on a farm knows the difference between "good" jeans and "work" jeans. Your good jeans are for wearing when you go to town. Your work jeans are for wearing when you do anything besides go to town. If you've never had the dilemma of retiring good jeans to the work jeans category due to a barbwire hole or a stain of unknown origin, you are obviously much better at keeping your jeans just for town than I am. It never fails. Just as I've put on good jeans, I get the call to help with [insert some kind of farm emergency here (ex: cows are out, pivot is stuck, husband is stuck)]. "And no! There isn't time for you to change your jeans! I need you here now!" It is reasons like this why my stack of work jeans is always towering over my good jeans pile.

Speaking of stacks, living on a farm generally corresponds to living in blue jeans. Therefore, the stacks of blue jeans are quite large, and when laundry day comes around, the jeans are split into two loads of jeans: one load for good jeans and one load for work jeans. We cannot have them mingling! Who knows what the good jeans will be exposed to by those filthy, dirty work jeans! But seriously... no mingling between the jeans.

Prior to living in the Texas Panhandle, I took my stacks of blue jeans for granted. I mean, Levi Strauss is always going to make jeans from thin air, right? Seeing as how I grew up in South Dakota, I didn't really know what cotton was, where it came from, or why certain cotton is used for blue jeans versus t-shirts. You could say I was a bit disconnected from the cotton-picking (or -stripping) reality.

Then I moved to the middle-of-nowhere Texas Panhandle.

Now I'm a bit more familiar with cotton, like I can see quite a bit of cotton from my front porch. Also, part of my income directly relies on cotton to do its thing and make cotton. Funny how things change, isn't it? I've also learned to not take my blue jeans for granted because just like every ag commodity, there are a bunch of hard-working farmers doing their best to raise upland cotton for my jeans.

Before I lived in Texas, I thought cotton was cotton. Then I moved here and learned about the difference between Pima and Upland cotton. Apparently, Pima cotton is what farmers grow in the Deep South and Southwest (Arizona, California). Pima cotton, or Extra Long Staple (ELS) cotton, is generally used for softer and more luxurious fabrics (think soft t-shirts). Pima cotton isn't really suited to growing on the High Plains though. We have this thing here called "wind," and Pima cotton really doesn't like it. With our wind here, a field of Pima cotton would resemble a toilet-papered yard, and nobody likes TPed yards or fields. Instead of growing Pima cotton, we grow Upland cotton, which is much more resistant to wind. Compared to Pima cotton, Upland cotton has a shorter staple length, is thicker, and isn't quite as strong when weaved as its counterpart. That isn't all bad though because Upland cotton happens to be really good for making blue jeans. Which I like. A. Lot.

By the way, Texas is the number one producer of Upland cotton, in case you were wondering. Texas is also second in the production of American Pima cotton.

Upland cotton and Pima cotton are harvested differently due to their certain strengths. Pima is "picked," while Upland is "stripped." Picking just takes the lint (the actual cotton fiber) right off the plant, while stripping actually strips all of the leaves, bolls, burs and everything off the plant. Therefore, since stripping leaves more trash in the lint, it isn't quite as premium of a cotton once ginned as Pima.

Once we start stripping cotton, I'll get some photos for illustration purposes. This will be my first cotton harvest so I'm pretty excited about it.

This is the third day of my 30 Days of Texas Panhandle Agriculture Series. To read more, please visit this introduction post. If you have questions or ideas about Texas Panhandle agriculture, I'd love to hear them!

Grow Up: Farm Week in Review

"Grow up!" is a phrase I can remember calling out to many of the boys during elementary school. It is also a phrase I use with my husband some days, and it generally goes something like this: "Stop acting like a child! Grow up and pick up your clothes from the floor." In all seriousness though, why is it so hard for men to use hampers instead of the floor? I just don't get it.

On the farm this week, "growing up" has taken a different meaning. Our wheat is coming out of the ground and growing up, thanks to a shot of rain and a quick pass of the irrigation sprinkler. The cotton, despite a very challenging season, is finally beginning to reach maturity. Yesterday, three cotton strippers (yes, you read that right - strippers) drove by my house so someone's cotton must be ready in the neighborhood. We have also been watching the calves growing up, and once corn harvest wraps up, they will be expected to act like real "grown ups" and start their new lives away from their mamas. After the rain shut the planting and harvesting down, the guys had time to fence a field of corn stubble in preparation for the cows once the calves are weaned off. The cows really love cleaning up any corn left behind, and I'm guessing a full stomach helps them keep their minds off their bawling calves.

Much like last week, the middle and end of this week have seen the combine harvesting corn, and the wheat drill running full force. Our early corn should be finished soon (next couple of days). Most of the early wheat will be planted by next week, attempting to take advantage of the little bit of moisture we got over the past weekend. Hopefully, we will have lots of wheat to tell to "grow up."

Hotwire running around a field of corn stubble. The cows will get turned out on this field once their calves are weaned.

Baby Wheat! Baby Winterhawk Wheat to be exact!

We have plenty of emergence left to happen, but so far, so good.

Cotton boll opening up - almost ready for the strippers!

Red Dog Rori in the cotton field. She had to accompany me while I went out to take wheat and cotton photos. Such a good helper!

Flexible Farming

Farming is all about planning, and then being flexible enough to change that plan in a single day when the weather decides your plan is wrong.

Case in point: we (my fiancé, his father and grandfather) had planted irrigated cotton the beginning of May. That action corresponds well to the usual cotton growing season, the usual Texas Panhandle weather at that time of year, and our farming plan. Have I mentioned the unpredictability of weather in the Texas Panhandle? Over Memorial Day weekend and the two weeks following, we received somewhere between 4 to 7 inches of rain. It was extremely wet (which we are so thankful for) and unseasonably chilly. Little cotton plants, unfortunately, aren't very fond of chilly, damp conditions, so while the corn planted right next to the cotton flourished, the cotton sat not growing and getting sick from some kind of seedling disease*. We also had a hail storm hit a couple of our fields. Oddly enough, cotton seedlings don't like getting beaten to a pulp by hail stones either. Below is a point system that can be used to determine your need of an in-furrow fungicide application. Generally, our point total is 50 points for minimum tillage. This year, we were well over the 200 point recommendation.

Table 1. Point system for determining the need for in-furrow fungicides. This point system is only a guide as to the probability of receiving a benefit from application of an in-furrow fungicide.

Soil Temperature < 65	= 75
5 Day Forecast - Colder and wetter	= 50
Seed Quality - Cold germ < 59%	= 75
Field History - Severe disease	= 100
Tillage - Minimum tillage	= 50
Row Preparation - Beds absent	= 75
Seeding Rate - Less than 3-4/foot of row	= 100
Poorly Drained Soil	= 50
If total exceeds 200, consider using an in-furrow fungicide

(*Table courtesy of Cotton Seedling Diseases. If you are interested in reading more about cotton seedling diseases, check out this article by Steve Koenning at North Carolina State University: Cotton Seedling Diseases.)

114-day corn hybrid planted on April 20 on left.
96-day corn hybrid planted on July 1 on right.

Looking back, we probably could have done a few things to help our cotton out, but when we were planning, we had no way of knowing or even guessing what the weather was going to do, especially considering we are in the middle of a drought! (See my post "Moisture: Need. More. Moisture.") That's one of the many dangers of farming.

Mid-June rolls around and here we were, with acres of sick, dying cotton that will never recover enough to produce a cotton boll. After discussions with our crop insurance adjustor, we made the decision to abandon the cotton crop and replant those acres to other crops.

On July 1, we planted a 96-day corn hybrid. Here is a picture taken 14 days later, next to our April-planted [114-day] hybrid. Obviously the corn is at very different stages. The April-planted is already pollinating, or beginning the seed reproduction stage, while the July-planted is barely out of the ground. While the July-planted is itty bitty right now, we have hopes that with good water and some good heat units, it will thrive and end up maturing about the same time as the April-planted.

On the other failed cotton acres, we planted grain sorghum, also known as milo, at the end of June and then more after the corn was planted the beginning of July. This is the typical time to plant grain sorghum in our area, and we are hopeful for a productive growing season for it.

Here are some baby sorghum plants. Aren't they cute!?

Despite our crop plan is a bit mixed up for the year, we were able to adapt to the growing season given to us. Hopefully, we will continue to get timely rains, we will miss any more major hail storms, and we will harvest a great crop of corn and sorghum that will go into the food and feed supply. Farming requires flexibility everywhere, but I seriously think Texas Panhandle farmers do yoga on a regular basis because they are super at being flexible on their farm.

Moisture: Need. More. Moisture.

What's the best smell in the world when you are a farmer in a drought-prone area? Rain.

I have always appreciated rain. I can always remember my dad saying, "You never wish away rain," and that's something I have struggled to adhere to. When I was in Michigan, it was so easy to complain about rain. Even the farmers I worked with were mentioning how they wished it'd stop raining. They don't usually have to worry about a lack of moisture for their crops.

Here in the Texas Panhandle, however, I've grown to appreciate every drop of moisture. It can be a rarity, and this year is shaping up to be another year of drought. We are worried about our wheat not making a harvestable crop because it hasn't gotten enough moisture. We've been pre-watering our irrigated ground that will be planted to cotton and corn because there is no residual moisture to allow the seeds to germinate. Moisture means boom or bust in the agricultural industry, and it could be a bust this year if we don't start seeing some rain (or snow).

Maybe that's why I was a bit perturbed by my Facebook newsfeed this morning. I woke up to snow on the ground this morning. Yep, that's right: April 14 in Texas with a full blanket of snow. Being the warm weather lover I am, I wasn't real excited about the prospect of this snow, but then I thought about the wonderful moisture it is providing us. This snow will melt today, slowly releasing about an inch of water to the ground. This wasn't a pounding rain that will run off. This snow will do us a lot of good. No, it isn't enough by any means, but it will help us. I realized this then proceeded to check my Facebook newsfeed and saw people complaining about this snow. I get it. It totally throws off your wardrobe choices for the day. You won't be able to rock those new shorts you bought on Saturday. But think about this. The cotton your new shorts are made out of will love having some water to use when it gets planted in two weeks.

It is easy to forget about how the weather effects those of us in agriculture and how it could effect the end consumer. We are blessed here in the United States. We have an abundance of food, and it is affordable. When anything is so accessible, we often take it for granted. Just like I did with rain in Michigan. The next time you want to complain about the rain or snow, please just think about your food and those of us out here trying to grow it. Then "never wish away rain."

Farm Fiancé Lessons: Tractor Cabs and Farmer Time

Marrying a farmer gives me the chance to do some farming as well. Seeing as how I came from a farm background, I actually enjoy spending hours in a small tractor cab. I regularly use the word "therapeutic" when referring to tractor time. It is a wonderful time to get some quality thinking done while also being productive.

An afternoon of solitude was precisely what I needed after the craziness of my move from Michigan to Texas so on my first Thursday in Texas, I spent the afternoon in the tractor running the plow. I have never been involved in the tillage process before since I was always busy in school during this time of the year, but after a one-round lesson from my awesome teacher Royce, I was good to go.

For the most part, it was glorious! Just me and my dog, Rori, against the corn and cotton stalks from last year. I might have had a couple of small "oops" moments, like when I didn't quite get my GPS guidance clicked on or when I put my plow down a little too soon during my turn, but when I pulled the tractor and plow into the farmyard, they were both still in one piece. I'll call that a win for me!

However, I learned a very valuable lesson every farmer's wife, fiance or girlfriend should know. Knowing what I know now, I got way too excited when Royce asked me to run the tractor for him. For the next week after that, he kept asking me if I could plow "for just an hour or so."* Not saying that I didn't truly love running the tractor for the afternoon (because I did) and not saying that I won't run the tractor on the weekends (because I will), but I really like my big kid job too. Getting him to grasp the fact of me working from home has been a challenge, but he's catching on now.

*Side note: Just an FYI, farmer time does not correlate to the actual clock at all. An "hour or so" ends up being at least three hours. Farmer time is a little bit like a woman's "getting ready" time. While I say, "I'll be ready in 10 minutes," what I really mean is, "I'll be ready whenever I'm ready, and that will most likely be at least 30 minutes."