The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) has awarded more than $18 million in grants to small businesses for high quality, advanced research and development that will lead to technological innovations and solutions for American agriculture. NIFA awarded 100 grants through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. "Small businesses are adept at finding solutions that can advance agriculture, create new jobs and grow our economy," says USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack. "These grants will provide resources so small businesses can innovate and create new breakthroughs. The SBIR program has provided hundreds of small businesses with the ability to explore new ideas that have led to cutting- edge solutions to pressing challenges and helped keep American agriculture innovative and strong." The SBIR program exists to stimulate technological innovations in the private sector and to...
Call it the perfect education for pursuing a career in the cotton industry. In fact, you couldn’t find a better description for the International Cotton Institute conducted every summer at the University of Memphis.
The school, which began in 1995, offers an eightweek curriculum that covers every aspect of cotton marketing and production.
As people have become more interested in the sources of their food, they have also shown interest about the people who produce it. That was the concept behind a seminar recently conducted in San Francisco titled Journalism: The Agriculture Beat Resurgence. Hosted by the Commonwealth Club
Southern cotton ginners know how to adapt to changing market conditions. In fact, you might say that they have rewritten the book on this topic in the last few years.
That "flexibility" was a major topic of discussion at the...
The Texas Cotton Ginners' Association summer meeting at the Lost Pines Resort near Austin and Bastrop was dominated by one theme – the potential for a bigger crop in 2014.
Timely rains earlier this summer created an excellent opportunity for...
Can a cotton producer learn anything valuable after spending a week in Montana? To the uniformed outsider, that would be a logical question. For participants in this summer's Multi-Commodity Education Program (MCEP) tour, it all makes sense now.
This program...
This is my 34th year as an agricultural consultant on the Texas High Plains. As I look back over those years, I am amazed at the advancements that have taken place. The way producers farmed 34 years ago is certainly different from today. However, one thing that hasn't changed over all these years is that water is a yield-limiting factor, and there is no substitute for water.
Right now our cotton on the Coastal Bend is in the squaring stage of development. At this point, the primary pest that we worry about the most is the cotton fleahopper. This is a traditional pest that you'll find in the eastern and southern part of the state – and certainly more so than in the High Plains.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced that USDA is seeking applications from rural small businesses and agricultural producers for funding to make energy efficiency improvements or to install renewable energy systems. "Developing renewable energy presents an enormous economic...
Getting a good stand and getting off to a good start are critical to making high-yield cotton. The newest cotton varieties available to producers across the Belt have outstanding yield potential. In fact, the latest trend is to talk...
It would be hard to find a more optimistic group than the Texas Cotton Ginners' Association. Even with a drought again plaguing parts of the state, members remain cautiously hopeful about the chance for a good crop in 2014.
Such...
The TCGA internship program looks to create opportunities for program participants, and we need your help. In many ways, the internship program created by TCGA has gone according to plan. The idea for the program was generated through our safety committee back in 2008. Through the program, we have marketed our industry to many highly capable students at Texas A&M University
Seed treatments are an important investment for cotton farmers to make each year. Most will say that it’s mindboggling to think about the front-end costs made in a crop before it ever comes out of the ground.
But those same...
BY TOMMY HORTON
EDITOR
If it’s February, it can only mean one thing. Winter is almost over, and spring can’t be too far away. It also means that the Mid-South Farm & Gin Show is right around the corner. Those are...
BY BRENT MURPHREE
MARICOPA, ARIZ.
Large-scale solar energy use on Western cotton farms has been slow on the uptake. However, cotton ginners in the West have begun looking at solar energy options to help cut electrical costs during ginning season.
Nationwide, energy...
