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ABOUT EVENTS News PROGRAMS & SERVICES FACT SHEETS TOPICS COUNTY OFFICES
ABOUT EVENTS News PROGRAMS & SERVICES FACT SHEETS TOPICS COUNTY OFFICES
Ferguson College of AgAg Research

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Current Situation

Rain fell across the state over the past weekend, and it was much needed. The most current drought monitor still has the cotton growing regions of the state in some level of drought. Wheat crops and early-planted corn will benefit from this rainfall and soil profiles will benefit as we near cotton planting. Soil moisture up to 10cm showed improvement following the most recent rain event.

 

U.S. Drought Monitor Oklahoma

A map of Oklahoma showing the U.S. Drought Monitor . The southeastern corner of Oklahoma is in white to represent no drought. The center and northeastern part of the state is in yellow representing Abonormally Dry conditions. The southwestern north central, and panhandle are largely light orange representing moderate drought. The north western part of the state excluding the panhandle is in a deep orange representing severe drought.

Figure 1a. April,1, 2025 (Released Thursday, Apr. 3, 2025) Valid 8 a.m. EDT

 

A key to the map showing the Intensity in the U.S. Drought Monitor for Oklahoma. There are 6 boxes in warm colors. The first box is white and represents None. The second box is yellow and represents D0 Abnormally Dry. The third box is light orange and represents D1 Moderate Drought. The fourth box is orange and represents D2 Severe Drought. The fifth box is bright red and represents D3 Extreme Drought. The sixth box is dark red and represents D4 Exceptional Drought.

Figure 1b. The Drought Monitor focuses on broad-scale conditions. Local conditions may vary. For more information on the Drought Monitor, go to About U.S. Drought Monitor Webpage.

 

Drought Conditions (Percent Area)
Time None D0-D4 D1-D4 D2-D4 D3-D4 D4
Current 24.54 75.46 47.52 14.10 0.00 0.00
Last Week
03-25-2025		 23.05 76.95 47.52 14.10 0.00 0.00
3 Months Ago
12-31-2024		 70.28 29.72 5.52 0.33 0.00 0.00
Start of Calendar Year
01-07-2025		 70.28 29.72 5.52 0.33 0.00 0.00
Start of Water Year
10-01-2024		 22.82 77.18 61.31 37.39 11.50 0.00
One Year Ago
04-02-2024		 62.14 37.86 8.47 0.00 0.00 0.00

Author: David Simeral Western Regional Climate Center

 

Logo Entity  
United States Department of Agriculture Logo United States Department of Agriculture  
National Drought Mitigation Center Univeristy of Nebraska Logo National Drought Mitigation Center Univeristy of Nebraska   
United States of America Department of Commerce Seal United States of America Department of Commerce Seal  
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration U.S. Department of Commerce Logo National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration U.S. Department of Commerce  

US Drought Monitor Homepage

 

A quintuple line graph showing the soil moisture for Altus over the course of 7 days. The left side of the graph measures the Fractional Water Index. The bottom of the graph shows the date and time starting at 12:00 PM on 3/31/2025 and ending on 12:00 PM 4/7/2025. There is a key at the bottom showing the green line represents Vegetated soil 5 cm, The dark green line represents Vegetated soil 10cm, the dotted line represents Vegetated soil 25 cm, Dashed and dotted line represents vegetated soild 50 cm, and the red line represents bare soil. The 1st line starts at just under .1 until it shoots up to 1 on 4/4/25 where it stays for the rest of the days. The 2nd line starts off close to the .3 mark and gradually drops to the .2 mark until shooting upward to above .5 on 4/4/25 and upward again to just below .8 on 4/5/25 where it stays until the end of the graph. The 3rd line starts at around .15 and slowly declines to just under .1 by the end of the graph. The 4th line begins at just above .3 and makes a slow decline ending around .25. The 5th and final line starts high at around .75 and has a slight decline to almost .7 until jumping up to .9 on 4/4 where it stays until the end of the graph.

 

The Oklahoma 14-day Rainfall Accumulation in inches as of 9:40 AM on July 31, 2023 CDT in Norman Oklahoma and the Next Seven Days forecast.

 

Planting Considerations

Many factors need to be considered when determining when to plant cotton. Water and temperature are two of the main drivers in achieving a good cotton stand. While soil moisture can be variable around the state it is important to remember that planting in good moisture is essential for uniform germination. Temperature can be tricky to gauge. Although day-time temperatures may be in the 90s, if nighttime temperatures are falling into the 50s the growth of the plant can be slowed/delayed.

 

Optimal temperatures for cotton planting and early development are when the highs are at least in the low to mid 80s and the nighttime lows are in the 60s or higher. Optimum soil temperatures for cotton germination are when the 10 day 8-inch soil temperature average is 65 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. If planting in cooler temperatures be sure to contact your seed company to get cool-germ information. Also be sure to look at the forecast when planting to monitor temperatures for the days following planting. For more information on cotton planting considerations please refer to OSU Extension Fact Sheet  PSS-2187.

 

A map of Oklahoma showing the 10-inch Soil Temperature in °F at 11:15 AM April 7, 2025 CDT. The map is colored to represent temperature of the soil with the map in various shades of green, blue and purple showing temperatures around the low to mid 50's.

 

Early-Season Pest Considerations

Many pests can impact our crops early-season. Being proactive to have a plan in place to manage these pests is the best plan of action. When doing this consider each farm individually as pest pressures can vary drastically from farm to farm. Weed pressure, disease presence, and neighboring crops vary on every farm.

 

When considering weed management, knowing which weeds cause the most issues on an individual farm will help determine the herbicide program. Soil-residual herbicides are key to any cotton weed management program. Many options are available for at-plant residual herbicides. The use of these herbicides will provide a few weeks of weed control to help the plant get started without weed competition. These herbicides need to be incorporated into the soil so it is best to plan these applications in front of a rain or use over-head sprinkler irrigation to move them into the soil. Most of these herbicides require between 0.5 and 1 inch of rainfall/irrigation to be properly incorporated. Postemergence soil residual herbicides are also key to making a weed management program successful. When we use them, we are able to "Overlay" or "Overlap" residuals to make sure we have a constant residual barrier.

 

Postemergence residuals include Dual Magnum, Outlook, Warrant, and Zidua (applied on fertilizer or through hoods). Below is some data on residual herbicides conducted at the Southwest Research and Extension Center in 2024. It is important to note that Zidua cannot be sprayed over-the-top of cotton, it must be a directed application. These evaluations were conducted at 4 Weeks After Planting (WAP) and 4 Weeks After Treatment (WAT). If you would like more information on these herbicides feel free to contact Maxwell Smith with OSU Extension.

 

Preemergence (At-Plant) Soil Residual Herbicides

A bar graph titled Palmer amaranth control 4 WAP. The left side of the graph is measuring the Control % and starts at 0 and goes all the way to 100. There are bars for Brake, Caparol, Dual Magnum, Prowl H20, Sinister and Warrant. Brake is at around 78%. Caparol is at around 9%. Jual Magnum is at around 39%. Prowl H20 is at around 20%. Sinister is at around 87%. Lastly, Warrant is at around 48%.

 

Postemergence (POST) Soil Residual Herbicides

A bar graph showing the Palmer amaranth control 4 WAT. The left side of the graph shows the control % from 0 to 100. The bars measured are Dual, Outlook, Warrant and Zidua. The bar for Dual is at 89%. The bar for Outlook is at around 87%. The bar for Warrant is around 58%. The bar for Zidua is ar around 98%.

 

Thrips can pose a risk to cotton plants from emergence to about the 5-leaf stage. Several options are available to manage these pests. Insecticide seed treatments are a great option to help manage thrips without making a sprayer application. Contact your seed company about these options. Thryvon cotton is a newer technology that provides early-season pest protection, especially thrips. Several companies have this option available so contact your seed company to learn what options are available for your farm. AgLogic (aldicarb) is available for in-furrow applications and can provide management of early season pests. Scouting for thrips is key when the cotton plant is getting established to avoid setbacks from damage. If thrips are causing damage to young plants several foliar options are available for control. If you would like more information on any of these options feel free to contact Maxwell Smith at OSU Extension.

 

Nematode presence in Oklahoma cotton fields has become more recognized. If you have these issues on your farm or suspect you have these issues, there are several management options available. Resistant varieties, in-furrow applications, and cropping systems options are available. It is important to know which species of nematode you are dealing with. If you have these issues or suspect you have these issues, contact Maxwell Smith or Maira Duffeck with OSU Extensions to discuss management options.

 

Upcoming Events

There is a Pre-season cotton CEU Meeting in Altus on April 17. For more information on this contact the Jackson County Extension Office.

 

Demo plots of Thryvon cotton and the use of AgLogic will be placed around Southwest Oklahoma this growing season. If you would like to look at these contact Maxwell Smith at OSU Extension.

 

For more information on Cotton management visit the OSU Cotton website.

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