The long, wet, cool spring has been a slow-motion disaster for cotton farmers, said Ron Vargas, the Madera County UCCE cotton farm advisor. "In my 25 years on the job, I've never seen anything like this," he said. "We're running out of time."

Cotton's poor showing to date underscores the importance of precise crop management the rest of the season.

"In a year like this, calendar date doesn't mean anything," said Bob Hutmacher, the UC statewide cotton specialist. "Growers will need plant information to fine tune their crop management to deal with these challenging weather conditions."

The meetings in June will provide growers with the tools they need to make the best out of the bad situation. Information on nitrogen and irrigation management in a short cotton season, pest management strategies, and local research results will be presented at each of the four meetings.

"Farmers may want to take this opportunity to look at management practices they wouldn't use in a typical year," Hutmacher said.

For example, using less nitrogen fertilizer and some delays in irrigation may work in farmers' favor this year.

"That's one way to get the crop to mature in a timely manner and reduce inputs," he said. "It would reduce yield potential in a typical year, but in a year like this, it may be more important to get the crop harvested on time."

The June cotton production meetings are:

• Kern County, 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. June 15, UC Shafter Research and Extension Center, 17053 N. Shafter Ave., Shafter
• Tulare/Kings counties, 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. June 16, International Agri-Center, 4450 Laspina Ave., Tulare
• Fresno County, 9:30 a.m. to 12 noon June 17, VFW Post 9538, 22001 W. Manning Ave., San Joaquin
• Merced/Madera counties, 12 noon to 4 p.m. June 17, San Juan Ranch Field Lab, Corner of Hutchins and San Juan Road, Dos Palos

California cotton -- planted on one million acres and, under normal circumstances, a $1 billion industry -- is at least three to four weeks behind schedule in most areas. Vargas said he expects yields this year to be substantially lower than the average 1,300 pounds per acre in the northern San Joaquin Valley.

"I don't want to guess how low," he said. "I have my ideas, but it's too bleak. This appears worse than 1978, when we had cool late spring weather and tremendous lygus pressure. The statewide average production that year was 680 pounds per acre."

Merced County farmers, coming off a banner production year in 1997, are being equally put off by the unseasonably cool and wet late spring weather.

"We keep waiting and waiting for cotton to start squaring. It's moving so slow, it's disgusting," said Farm Advisor Bill Weir. "Farmers have asked if they should just throw up their hands and quit."

Slow growth isn't farmers' only problem, the advisors said. Prolonged moist soil requires the already challenged plants to do battle with growth inhibiting seedling diseases which have caused widespread root damage.

This year, thrips, which are typically considered beneficial insects because they help control mites, are curling leaves and reducing surface area for photosynthesis. Many farmers have been forced to start spraying their underdeveloped cotton for mites.

"If we have a bad lygus year, like in '78, we're in serious trouble," Vargas said.

And in Tulare Lake Basin of Kings and Tulare counties, thousand of acres of farmland are still underwater, eliminating any opportunity for growers to generate a crop.

Even Gov. Pete Wilson's permission to plant cotton varieties with short-season potential that are usually banned in California isn't a sure thing in providing relief to growers.

"We don't have any data to draw on to determine whether they really will grow in a shorter season in the San Joaquin Valley," Vargas said. "We know some of these varieties have little, if any, Verticillium wilt tolerance. Whether they will help farmers remains to be seen."

For more information contact:
The University of California Cooperative Extension
Cotton Advisors and Specialists Statewide: Bob Hutmacher (805)746-8020, rbhutmacher@ucdavis.edu
Fresno: Dan Munk (209) 456-7561, cefresno@ucdavis.edu
Kern: James Brazzle (805) 868-6215, cekern@ucdavis.edu
Madera: Ron Vargas (209) 675-7679, cdmadera@ucdavis.edu
Merced: Bill Weir (209) 385-7403, blweir@ucdavis.edu
Tulare/Kings: Steve Wright (209) 733-6482, sdwright@ucdavis.edu

Jeannette Warnert
Public Information Representative
UC Regional Office
550 E. Shaw Avenue
Fresno, CA 93710