COTTON'S AGENDA

Fingertip Control

The National Cotton Council believes its members can benefit in many ways by regularly accessing the extensive information that’s available on the organization’s website, www.cotton.org.

What are some of the website’s benefits?

The website offers a timely way to get mobilizing information to NCC members. That includes issue updates, deadline reminders, such as conservation program signups, and the occasional “Action Alert.” The latter urges NCC members to contact their Congressional members on key legislative or regulatory proposals that would affect the U.S. cotton industry. Topics cover a wide array of issues from farm policy development to regulatory threats, such as additional permitting on producers who apply pesticides over or near U.S. waters. The “Action Alerts” and issue updates almost always link to background information to help NCC members in their follow-up communication to Congressional members.

That Congressional contact is further enhanced by the website’s Congressional contact section that contains lawmakers’ addresses, telephone phone numbers and key staffers. And the website’s attractive new “Congressional Staffer” section is aimed at elevating Congressional members/staffers’ understanding of and appreciation for our industry. Lawmakers and staffers are being steered to that section, which contains information on the cotton industry’s infrastructure, issues and its economic contributions.

Are there other helpful website sections?

The website’s Technical Section is outstanding – containing fact sheets and guidelines for helping producers’ decision-making in areas ranging from weed resistance control to selecting the proper module cover. That section also offers producers help with regulatory compliance, such as the November 2011 deadline for owners of an Oil Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure (SPCC)-regulated facility or farm to prepare or amend and implement a SPCC Plan. Of particular interest to producers is the Technical Section’s physiology area. It contains the Cotton Physiology Today newsletters that discuss technical and production issues and proven strategies to help producers manage practices, ranging from fertilization to harvest timing. Also included is the NCC’s Advancing Cotton Education program featuring best management practices.

The NCC’s website also contains one of the best databases of cotton economic information anywhere. From cotton program fact sheets to detailed economic reviews and forecasts, producers have facts and insight at their fingertips needed for making sound decisions in today’s challenging business environment.

Is the information available to anybody?

Most areas are accessible to the public, including the news/events and the education section so valuable to teachers’ classroom instruction about cotton and our unique industry. Other information only can be accessed by NCC members. If you are a NCC member and don’t have a password or want to become a NCC member, I urge you to go to the member login box on the NCC’s home page, www.cotton.org or directly to http://www.cotton.org/register/request-password.cfm. If you have forgotten your password, don’t worry. Interested parties can go to http://www.cotton.org/register/loginhelp.cfm.

Mark Lange is president and chief executive officer for the National Cotton Council of America. He and other NCC leaders contribute columns on this Cotton Farming page.