As a youngster, I grew up hand picking cotton on a small, family cotton farm in Lawrence County, Ala., during the late 1940s and 1950s. Cotton was our primary crop. It paid the bills and purchased a new...

Entomologists from South Carolina, Mississippi and Texas offer an early outlook for potentially damaging cotton insect pests By Carroll Smith Editor Rows of young cotton not only are a beautiful sight to behold but also an attractive buffet for insect pests in...

The 2017 cotton-growing season got off to a good start in most of the Mid-South region. Cotton farmers are optimistic about this year’s crop, based largely on December futures contracts average of 70 cents per pound, which is higher...

The National Cotton Council is encouraged by some recent articles in which bee experts are saying that pesticides, including neonicotinoids, are not a primary cause for bee health decline. What are these scientists saying? In spite of the perception that pesticides are...

After reading Alabama entomologist Ron Smith’s My Turn column, “Picking On The Terrace Row,” I began to think about my own memories associated with cotton insects, the devastation they can cause and some of the methods associated with their...

Monitoring cotton pest thresholds has proven to be one of the more successful tools for keeping insect pressures in check. In the West, established research-based thresholds aid in determining treatment of cotton pests. Adherence to those standards can be...

Researchers Set Their Sights On Target Spot Control, But Several Questions Remain By Vicky Boyd Managing Editor Although researchers are gaining a better understanding of the fungal pathogen that causes target spot, they admit they still have a lot of unanswered...

What about world fiber consumption? A major reason behind the decline of cotton’s share of global fiber consumption is that global synthetic fiber production capacity is three times the level of global cotton production. That helps explain why on today’s...

In my early years as an ag journalist, one of the biggest challenges was fine-tuning the timing for getting in touch with farmers and university personnel who spent their days from sun up to sun down in the field....

CALIFORNIA California Central Valley farmers have finally been blessed with some decent rain, snowpack and irrigation water supplies for this year. Although we have water, variable cool weather periods mean a limited acreage of cotton seed was in the ground...

After many years of being asked by One Grower staff for a My Turn article, I relented and will try to give you readers some things to ponder. I spent my career as a research entomologist with the University of...

By Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University A collaborative endeavor has resulted in dyeing cotton with cotton. Archroma has pioneered the concept of using natural wastes and byproducts to synthesize dyes to color textiles. Bryan Dill, from Archroma US Inc., presented the “Earthcolors”...

If you are an active member of a ginning association, you probably know that these organizations typically tend to deal more in the regulatory world than the policy world. The past few months have been tough for many of us...

From planting depth to thrips control, North Carolina cotton experts designed these reminders to help you achieve optimal stands and good early season growth. By Guy Collins North Carolina State University The wet and cold 2016 planting season we encountered in North...

By Dominic Reisig North Carolina State University Editor’s note: Dr. George Kennedy, North Carolina State University, has developed a tool for predicting thrips risk to cotton. Most everyone knows some type of preplant control measure is needed for thrips, whether it’s an...