Cotton has been making progress this week as the temperatures really cranked up the past couple of days. Unfortunately they got a bit hotter than we would have liked them to have gotten. Temperatures above 95 are really not helping the cotton and are really pulling moisture away. Not a whole lot is going on on the pest front at this time except for jumbo grasshoppers still flaring up in places throughout the area. They are continuing their march slowly westward but at this point have not been the nuisance that they were when they first showed up 3-4 weeks ago. Many producers sprayed all of their borders immediately after hearing of them, while others are taking the wait and see approach. We are seeing spots of 10, 20, or 30 jumbos moving in little groups but not really feeding. Other areas are seeing hundreds moving in mass, even into fields that have already been treated. I highly encourage everyone to check fields regularly, especially anything near pasture.

For cotton nearing squaring, keep your eyes peeled for fleahoppers. They are out in the pastures and weedy areas already, and with this weeds rapidly drying down they will be moving to squaring cotton soon. Otherwise, things look pretty good right now, we just need a rain and cooler temperatures.