Identifying the last effective (i.e., profitable) bolls is often challenging for crop managers, particularly in the humid midsouthern and southeastern U.S. cotton production regions. Public researchers from land-grant universities, in cooperation with Cotton Incorporated, performed long-term studies and developed insect control termination guides based on plant monitoring to identify the last effective bolls. Cotton producers and crop advisors from across the U.S. Cotton Belt, from Texas to Virginia, collaborated with researchers and Extension scientists to validate those monitoring methods and recommendations. This presentation describes the plant monitoring methods used to identify the date of cutout, which is defined as the flowering date of the last economically significant boll population. Crop managers will learn how to track DD60s to gauge boll maturity and know with confidence when to quit insect control for particular insect pest species, as well as field methods to take node above white flower counts, identify cutout, and calculate heat units—all to determine timing for terminating late-season crop protection in cotton.
