Consultants Corner

I grew up on a farm near Drew in the Mississippi Delta. My dad, H.T. Miller, Jr. sent me to a scouting school when I was 15 years old. During the summer months, I checked cotton for local farmers, then went on to study agriculture at Mississippi State University.

Dr. Brooks Blanche, Cotton Development Specialist, Dow AgroSciences St. Joseph, La. This winter and spring in the Mid-South will be remembered for recordbreaking cold temperatures and ample rainfall. While this has some advantages for reducing insect populations and recharging soil...

Daniel Fowler Fowler Crop Consulting, Inc. Roanoke Rapids, N.C. During the summers in high school and college, I scouted for two great consultants and went to work for one of them after graduating from North Carolina State University. Two years...

CHRIS DRAKE OWNER OF SANDY POINTS FARMS AND TERRITORY AGRONOMIST FOR PHYTOGEN COTTONSEED NEWSOMS, VA. I am a fourth-generation farmer in Southampton County, Va. During the summers while in college, I was employed by different entities in which I worked with cotton programs,...

In 1984, when I was fresh out of high school, I had the opportunity to work with Dr. Ed Kowalski, who, at the time, was with the University of Missouri. About every 10 days, he came down to one of our local retailers, got a group of us together and taught us how to scout for thrips, plant bugs and worms during the pre-Bt days.

Bob Glodt of Plainview, Texas, Cotton Consultant of the Year (CCOY) for 2013, was recently honored at a special reception and dinner at the Beltwide Cotton Conferences in New Orleans. A crowd of more than 150 was on hand...

TRENT LAMASTUS LAMASTUS COTTON CONSULTANTS, INC. CLEVELAND, MISS. I developed a love for agriculture while growing up and working on the family farm. While attending Delta State University, I worked during the summers as a cotton scout. This is when I was...

Dr. Chris Main Cotton Development Specialist, Dow AgroSciences Not to say that any cotton season is normal, but as producers approach the end of this one, they do so with a sigh of relief. It’s been a wild, late crop that...

Will Connell President, Will Connell Ag. Consultant Inc. Stokes, North Carolina (Works with nine producers who have land in Nash, Wilson, Edgecombe, Pitt and Martin Counties) At an early age, I developed the interests that led me to consulting. I grew up on a...

If there was one factor that I could change in our approach to cotton harvest in the Southeast, it would be to get it done…IN A HURRY. Timeliness preserves yield and quality. But 2013 presents the challenge of picking much of the crop in a timely fashion and, yet, on some late, late cotton, waiting until the last possible moment to pull the trigger.

Billy Bryant Bryant Consulting Services, Inc. Leflore County, Mississippi When I was 14 years old, I started scouting cotton for Bill Harris, a local consultant here in the county and a charter member of the Mississippi Agricultural Consultants Association. I worked for...

Kevin Corban Corban Agri. Consulting, Inc. Rolling Fork, Miss. My interest in consulting began at a young age when I used to ride with my dad, Frank Corban, who was the County Agent for Sharkey County at the time. He made calls...

James Clower Clower Consulting Service, LLC St. Joseph, La My dad, Dr. Dan Clower, was the lead cotton entomologist at LSU AgCenter for many years and greatly influenced my life. I started checking cotton with him at a very early age –...

Jack Royal Royal Agricultural Consulting Co., Inc. Leary, Ga. The 2012 crop is now behind us. We had great corn yields, super peanut yields (Georgia may have set a new record for pounds per acre.), and cotton yields turned out much better...

Dr. Joel Faircloth Pfafftown, N.C. We are now "in the short rows" of making variety selection decisions. This may be the most critical decision a producer makes. Let's take a look at three elements of variety selection. Field History Variety selection should be...