Benefits

Better Information Means Better Decision-Making

• Each field has its own report.
• Square sheds alert growers to pest problems and augment insect scouting reports.
• A quick comparison to the Target Development Curve tells if crop pace is too fast or right on track for a high and early yield. See the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Publication, Interpretation of Crop Growth Patterns Generated by COTMAN, Special Report 181.
• Crop Curves can indicate if stress is occurring.

Takes out End-of-Season Guess-Work

• When bolls are safe from fruit-feeding insects.
• When to defoliate for optimum yields and quality.

COTMAN is Easy to Use

• At first square, plant stand counts and average first fruiting node are recorded.
• From first square to first flower, ten plants at each of four sites per field are monitored weekly for the presence or absence of first-position squares.
  
  
  
  
• From first flower until cutout, nodes-above-white-flower (NAWF) counts are recorded weekly from ten plants at each of four sites per field.
  
  
  
  
• From cutout until defoliation, daily high and low temperatures are recoded from a local weather source.

COTMAN Provides Timely Information

• Plant and fruit numbers per acre
• Graph of crop developmental pace
• Flowering date of the last effective boll population
• Dates when bolls are safe from damage by fruit-feeding insects - boll weevils, tobacco budworms, plant bugs and bollworms
• Dates when crop is ready for defoliation

COTMAN is Profitable

• The cost of full-season crop monitoring is more than offset by savings on the late-season insecticide
• Timely feedback on crop development pace and stress give growers potential to...
  • Take prompt corrective action
  • Integrate management systems
  • Meet objective of overall profitability