Historically, more than 90% of the adult thrips found on seedling cotton in Mississippi have been tobacco thrips. Seedling cotton may be infested by thrips immigrating from early spring host plants as soon as the cotton plants emerge. Thirty eight percent of the 1999 Mississippi cotton crop was treated with foliar insecticide for early season thrips management (30% in the hills, 42% in the delta region) (Williams, 2000). During the 2000 season, 91% of delta cotton and 82% of hill cotton received either a seed treatment or an in-furrow insecticide at planting (Williams 2001). In-furrow, prophylactic treatments have longer residual activity then seed treatments and demonstrate better efficacy against adult thrips than do seed treatments. In general seed treatments lose efficacy for control of larval thrips beyond three weeks after planting, with efficacy after that time below that of compounds applied in-furrow. Both seed treatments and materials applied in-furrow provided approximately 80% control of larval thrips during the first 21 days after planting. Rate-related efficacy of several insecticides applied in-furrow is reviewed. A 2001 trial incorporating foliar application of several compounds is discussed.