What is in this article?:
- Holladay worked for his father when he was a kid and represents the fourth generation to farm in the Lamesa area, but says 2011 was the most challenging year he’s experienced in 20 years of farming on his own.
- He’s hoping for better results in 2012, although long-range predictions indicate a strong chance of drought persisting into next spring.
More About:
DAWSON COUNTY, Texas, cotton farmer Shawn Holladay is the High Cotton winner for the Southwest region.
Rotation
He likes to rotate with wheat or plant wheat as a winter cover, terminate it in the spring, and plant cotton in the residue. He also plants cotton into old cotton stalks.
“I want a system that provides organic matter, but doesn’t use a lot of water. Managing a cover crop has become more difficult because of our rainfall issues — the need to grow a cover crop and the need to conserve water are beginning to butt heads.”
It’s a dilemma, he says.
“I want to keep a cover crop to prevent wind from blowing the soil away. I may have to lean more on cotton stalk residue, but I prefer to plant in wheat litter. A true rotation is the best bet, but this isn’t proper wheat country. We’re trying some on our lighter water areas, then planting cotton in year-old stubble.”
He’s also tried planting a wheat cover, destroying it and planting in the residue.
“I have to look at cash flow,” he says. “Lately that’s not been a big issue with wheat prices up, but historical yields for wheat in this area may mean it’s not a good option. So, we have to look at cover crops and evaluate the potential. We have to know where our water is going and what we’re getting out of it.”
