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With dry weather conditions persisting throughout the Southwest, Monsanto is announcing a 2006 Drought Relief program to help cotton producers effectively reduce their weather-related risk. The program covers qualifying cotton producers in Monsanto’s Seed Drop Rate Zone E – that includes West Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico – who lose their crop or experience yields of less than 150 pounds of lint per acre due to severe drought. Qualifying producers are eligible to receive 100 percent cotton technology refunds when a crop loss is experienced due to severe drought conditions on acres planted with cotton varieties containing Monsanto cotton traits. Traits which qualify under the program include Bollgard, Bollgard II, Roundup Ready cotton and Roundup Ready Flex cotton. Qualifying producers planting Stoneville and/or Nex/Gen varieties are eligible to receive a 100 percent refund of the suggested retail price of the seed when a crop loss is experienced due to severe drought. “Monsanto recognizes that cotton producers in the Plains states are facing some very difficult cotton production input decisions due to current drought conditions,” says Kyle Maple, U.S. cotton marketing manager for Monsanto. For more information, go to www.monsanto.com.
The National Cotton Council is accepting applications for the 2006-07 Cotton Leadership Class through June 16. Those interested in applying to this class or nominating an industry member for it can visit the Cotton Leadership Program’s Web site at http://leadership.cotton.org to review the program curriculum, eligibility requirements and download the application. The site also includes a contact form which allows users to submit questions, request information and schedule a personal visit with local program alumni. The 2006-07 class, which will be comprised of four producers and one participant from each of the other six industry segments, will be announced in August by the NCC’s Cotton Leadership Development Committee.
Cotton Incorporated has cooperatively released seven new lines of cotton germplasm with the University of Arkansas to help improve fiber quality and yield potential of future varieties, according to a joint announcement. The release of these new lines is a direct result of Cotton Incorporated’s Breeding and Genetics Initiative, and stems from a multi-year field testing project in which the germplasm was studied under a wide range of environmental factors. The germplasm lines and their traits include: Arkot 9202 – High yield
potential and a lower level of micronaire. The germplasm lines provide an opportunity to develop improved varieties, and are now available to use in all breeding programs.
Delta and Pine Land Company has announced that Rick Rice will assume the role of marketing director for the U.S. business. Rice has spent the bulk of his career in southern agriculture with focused experience in cotton seed and technology. Most recently, Rice was director of marketing for Lawhon Farm Services’ cotton and soybean product lines. He previously spent a number of years with Monsanto in Roundup Ready marketing, introducing the technology to cotton and managing the marketing of Roundup and Roundup Ready soybeans in the South. He also has worked with AgrEvo
(a component of Bayer CropScience), and Elanco (a component of Dow AgroSciences).
He has a bachelor of science degree in agricultural business and economics
from Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. |