FastStart Cotton Accreditation Course
FastStart adopts a holistic approach to cotton establishment, which considers:
Maximising yield potential and fibre quality, improving water use efficiency, and minimising costs
Protecting and developing a healthy crop until harvest
Achieving desired plant population, uniform plant stand and maximising yield potential
Monitoring and managing the crop through the whole plant life cycle
The FastStart program provides a number of tools that support management of the crop until:
The crop is planted
6-10 leaf stage of the crop
Squaring
Flowering
Harvesting
The annual competition to reward and highlight growers who are achieving excellence in cotton plant stand and uniformity, is named the FastStart Establishment _____?
Champions Cup
Awards
Trophy
Shield
Entries for the FastStart Establishment Awards are open to all growers, who may nominate via the:
FastStart website
CSD website
Syngenta website
All of the above
To calculate day degrees, simply subtract 12 from the maximum and minimum temperature, add these together and divide by three?
True
False
The number of day degrees required from square to flowering is:
180
220
505
270
250
The initiation of squaring is determined mainly by:
Photoperiod
Temperature
Genotype
Water availability
Sunlight
In getting the cotton crop off to a good start, which of these is best practice:
Planting when the conditions are right
Selecting the right variety and seed treatment
Selecting the desired plant population to maximise yield
Preparing fields early
Controlling weeds
All of the above
Before planting, the key agronomic considerations are:
Selecting a variety that responds to Pix later in the season
Timing harvest date so there is sufficient time for the crop to yield before winter
Variety and fertility
Long-term weather outlook
Price and futures contracts
The advantage of pre-emergent herbicides are:
They can be applied anywhere from several weeks prior to planting, right up until the planting operation
They can be effective for weeks and months post application
They can be applied prior to known weed problems to control those weeds before they emerge
They play an important role in the management of herbicide resistance, especially for glyphosate
They can be less expensive than non-residual alternatives
All of the above
A field score of 5 represents?
The perfect seedbed for optimum establishment
The tilth is too fine and will set like concrete once watered
A soil that has plenty of airspaces to allow air for roots to breathe
A soil with large particles that may delay emergence and create the possibility of replant
The two varieties with the highest F.rank and V.rank (correspondingly) are:
Sicot 754B3F and Sicot 707B3F
Sicot 746B3F and Sicot 714B3F
Sicot 754B3F and Sicot 714B3F
Sicot 714B3F and Sicot 754B3F
Sicot 746B3F and Sicot 748B3F
Conventional cotton seed is coloured:
Red
Blue
Violet
Silver
Green
No colour as it is no longer sold
After consulting the statement of seed analysis from the CSD website, the grower finds that the warm seed germination is 80% and the seed count is 10,000 seeds per kilogram. As a result, the grower should aim to:
Plant less seed per metre
Plant more seeds per metre
Plant the same plant spacing as he normally does
Chose another AUSlot to plant
Due to poor conditions, a grower had to carry over some seed to the next season. Because the seed was good quality and germination, they do not need to retest the seed?
True
False
The last time a grower grew cotton, they planted Sicot 714B3F. Now the grower is planting Sicot 746B3F. They should:
Calibrate their planter to deliver more seeds per metre and plant deeper
Calibrate their planter to plant less seeds per metre and plant shallower
Don’t calibrate the planter because variety differences don’t impact on plant population
Calibrate to deliver the appropriate seed quantity to result in the right number of plants per metre
Don't worry about depth as (within reason) most seeds emerge anyway
The soil temperature at 10cm is 14°C and the seven day outlook is flat. According to the FastStart Establishment guide, should the grower:
Go ahead and plant as the right conditions are achieved
Wait for the optimum conditions and outlook
Plant half the farm and see what happens
Recheck in 10 days time to see if conditions have changed
Before starting the planter, which of these is are NOT a pre planting check?
Is the planter prepared for the coming season?
Is the planter calibrated to the correct seeding rate?
Is the planter adjusted for the correct planting depth?
Have planting speed limits been set?
Does soil tilth/condition mean other operations needed? E.g. rolling, meshing
Have all fields been sprayed with Roundup?
Have all staff operating the planter been properly trained?
To compensate for early insect damage, reduced insect control problems and reduced cost blow outs associated with late crops, growers should plant Bollgard 3 varieties early?
True
False
A grower decides to plant when the soil temperature is 13°C (at 8.00am AEST) into a paddock that was planted to cotton last year with high stubble loads and soil rating of 4. What would be your expectations for this crop?
Higher seedling mortality and possibly replant because the variables above contribute to higher disease incidence
Lower seedling mortality because the variables above actually inhibit the development of disease and are a growth advantage
Same emergence as the previous crop as none of the variables affect seedling mortality
The response will depend on the conditions going forward as to the outcome
None of the above
Vibrance is a new seed treatment fungicide from Syngenta that will be commercially available this season. Which of the following is not one of the benefits of Vibrance CST?
Average plant stands are 4% better than Dynasty CST
Vibrance shows improved early vigour over Dynasty CST
Vibrance can increase yields by as much as 12%
Vibrance CST contains five active ingredients that provide the broadest spectrum of disease control
The higher loading of Metalaxyl in Vibrance CST makes it even more potent on some soil diseases
Cruiser Extreme's introduction in 2011 provided a wider variety of advantages to growers than they previously received from standard seed treatments. These are:
Control of disease as well as insect pests in one seed treatment
More robust control of sucking pests comparable to granular products, reducing the replant risk and reduces the risk of exposure to toxic granular products
More longer term sucking pest control up until flowering
All of the above
According to the FastStart Establishment Guide, which of the following is NOT one of the factors growers need to consider when deciding on the ideal plant population?
Soil type and condition
Irrigated or dryland production system
Herbicide resistance
Long term average yields - based on area with plant population rates
Seedling mortality - disease and Insects
Rainfall and temperature (soil temperature and forecast air temperature
Many growers, particularly in dryland situations, plant wider row spacings mainly to:
Maximise water use efficiencies
Make in crop operations (spraying) easier
Allow harvesters to navigate through the crop easier
Make it easier for crop dusters to land, refill and take off between the rows
None of the above
A grower has a soil rating of 4, cool air temperatures for the week ahead and expects a plant survival of 60%. They aim to get 8 plants/m to survive out of a 85% germination rate. There are 12,000 seed/kg seed count. To achieve his optimal plant count, the grower needs to plant:
12kg/ha
13kg/ha
14kg/ha
15kg/ha
16kg/ha
A grower in Griffith in Southern NSW planted on the 3rd of November, but due to planting conditions ended up with 7-8 plants per metre. They should:
Replant the field
Leave the field as is and harvest what he can
Replant the parts of the field that are worst
Discuss with his agronomist/consultant or CSD Extension & Development Agronomist the best course of action, as there are a number of other factors to consider
In high plant populations, plants will put on more vegetative nodes, delaying fruiting and cut out earlier?
True
False
Because of weather delays, a grower on the Murray River in Southern NSW is planting later than they had hoped. Consequently, the grower plants at 12km/hr in the hope of getting their fields planted before the planting window closes. As a result:
There will be no net increase or decrease in plant stand as the variables above have no impact
There will be a net increase in plant stand because the grower is sowing in warmer conditions and still in the planting window
There will be a net decrease in plant stand because of the growers’ haste to plant the crop, which will affect the amount of plants per metre that establish
The grower will have to replant the crop due to poor germination and gappiness
According to the FastStart Establishment Guide, the ideal planting depth for planting into moisture is:
1.5 - 3.5 cm
2.5 - 4.5 cm
1.5 - 4.5 cm
3.5 - 5.5 cm
Lubricants are not recommended as research shows that they have no affect on seeding flow or uniformity?
True
False
A grower is contemplating which establishment method is going to be best for their circumstances. The grower is planting into dry soil in hot conditions with a high weed seed load. According to the FastStart Establishment Guide, the grower should:
Plant dry and water up
Pre-irrigate
Find a better field to plant
Spray the paddock first then plant and water up
Water up, spray the weeds then plant
Wait for rain then plant
Low density varieties are more difficult to establish than high density varieties?
True
False
According to the FastStart Establishment Guide, low density seed should be planted by:
Increasing planting rate and utilising lubricants
Sowing at a more shallow depth
Increasing fertiliser rates
Only planting high density varieties
A dryland cotton crop has only 5 wild radish weeds per metre. To get the best results the grower should spray:
When the crop is between 125 and 420 day degrees
When the crop is between 142 and 661 day degrees
When the crop is between 137 and 148 day degrees
When the crop is between 158 and 517 day degrees
Due to the introduction of Bollgard 3, thrips are no longer a major pest of irrigated cotton?
True
False
A grower is contemplating first watering. There is 40-50% available soil moisture. The grower should:
Wait for rain until it exceeds 50% moisture, then irrigate
Leave it as it is too late to irrigate
Irrigate immediately
Wait until it drops below 30% available moisture then irrigate
A grower has done extremely well to have 20 nodes, 60cm high plants and 12 NAWF. Because of this the grower should:
Spray Pix and cut out early to maximise yield potential
Reduce nutrients and fertiliser inputs in an effort to reduce stress on the crop
Increase inputs in an effort to maximise yield potential
None of the above as the crop will cut out the same regardless of more or less inputs
According to the FastStart Establishment Guide the average daily water use at first flower is approximately:
2.0mm/day
3.0mm/day
4.0mm/day
5.0mm/day
Last week the crop was 55cm with total nodes of 15. This week it is 66cm high with total nodes of 17. Should the grower spray Pix or not?
Yes
No
The NAWF measurement is?
A function of the rate of growth from first square to first flower
A function of the rate of growth from cotyledons to square
A function of the rate of growth from first flower to final flower
A function of the rate of growth from first node to final node development i.e. the total number of nodes per plant
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