Cotton Farming - Cotton Consultant's Corner

	Click here to ask Jack Royal a question or submit a comment about this month’s Cotton Consultant’s Corner.

Early Season Weed Control

1.	Early season weed control is very critical in all our crops: peanuts and glyphosate-ready cotton and corn. One hundred percent of our cotton acres receive a DNA (yellow) herbicide.
2.	We apply herbicides while weeds are small and incorporate residual herbicides in with our glyphosate applications. We try to use different chemistry classes of herbicides for resistance issues, especially now that glyphosate resistance has been confirmed in Georgia.
3.	For early season weed control, the most critical factors are timing of the herbicide application, correct rates and selection of herbicides to fit the weed spectrum.

Jack Royal
Royal’s Agricultural Consulting Co., Inc.
Leary, Ga.

• Twenty-eight years crop consulting experience
• A.A. degree in Agricultural Science – Abraham Baldwin
Agricultural College
• Member of NAICC
• Certified Independent Professional Crop Consultant
• Charter Member and Past President of Georgia Association
of Professional Agricultural Consultants

In this Q&A interview, Royal talks about the challenges
he faces and the rewards he realizes as a consultant in
today’s new ag environment.

What services do you offer and how do they contribute to your farmer client’s profitability?

I consult on cotton, corn and peanuts in southwest
Georgia. My services include soil, nematode and
plant tissue sampling; fertilizer recommendations;
variety selections and equipment calibration. I also
make recommendations for herbicides, insecticides, PGRs
and defoliants. Additional services for my farmer clients
include irrigation management programs for cotton, corn
and peanuts.

What’s your approach to processing technology/ product information that you eventually pass on to the farmer?

I attend as many industry and university meetings as possible and utilize information from other consultants and
industry personnel. I also perform my own plot research,
which I utilize the most. I take this information and integrate
it into a program to meet each client’s specific needs.

In your career, what’s been the biggest change for crop consultants?
The biggest change for crop consultants that I’ve observed
is trying to stay on top of the rapid changes in technology.
Since no two clients farm alike, it is a challenge to incorporate these new technologies into a program that fits each
farmer’s needs, while making sure these new technologies
add profit to the farmer’s bottom line.

What has been the most rewarding part of your profession?

Having a working relationship with the majority of my clients for 20+ years, sharing in their successes and seeing their operations grow has been rewarding to me. I have several farms where I started working with the father, and now the son has taken a more active part in the operation. Other rewards include the satisfaction of having high yields and a profitable year for each farmer. I also appreciate the friendships I have made with my clients, other consultants and industry personnel.