Not much has changed over the last couple of weeks in cotton other than the physiological state of the cotton itself.
A high percentage of our cotton acres are near the 5 nodes above white flower (NAWF) point (physiological cut-out). I would not let your guard down for a while longer, especially in cotton which has late growth, non-BT cotton, or may have excessive nitrogen levels.
Most cotton will need to be monitored for insect pests till the last week of August. The real late acres which just started blooming will need to be monitored till mid- September.
Cotton is generally safe from most pests when approximately 400 heat units (about 20 days) past the 5 NAWF have accumulated.
Cotton aphids would be one insect which could develop up through boll opening. Currently, many fields have small colonies of cotton aphids which are being held in check by very good numbers of beneficial insects.
Cotton irrigation is still very critical with very limited isolated rain showers. Cotton is still using +0.25” per day. This will not go down much for at least another 10 days. At peak we were using near 0.30” per day just a week or so ago.
Evapotranspiration remains high with the current weather pattern. Hopefully temperatures will moderate, and the chance of rain increases. Forecasts indicate this change might occur over the next ten days. These late rain chances are why we build a plant growth regulator (mepiquat chloride) into the plant earlier in the season.
Weeds continue to be a concern for many. Be careful in your enthusiasm to spend too much on these weeds. First ask yourself if these weeds are just cosmetic at this point or will their seed production haunt you in the future (i.e., morningglory, marestail) or cause you harvest problems. Young flushes of weeds, however, control may not be necessary. In some situations, you might just save money for a good harvest aid program and be prepared to do a much better job next year with residual herbicides.
Peanuts remain healthy. Flowering has slowed considerably with the heat which is continuing. Pod development is making good progress and remains healthy. I am not seeing much in the way of insects like worm feeding on foliage or spider mites. I would be scouting for mites with this hot weather.
Grains - Sorghum aphids have not been confirmed here yet. I am seeing banks grass mites very consistently in grain sorghum. However, the six-spotted thrips are keeping this pest somewhat in check