In sports, it is inevitable that a player (or a team) will go into a slump. In every case, the recipe for getting out of that slump and back into high performance is to break down the training routine...

The National Cotton Council works to ensure cotton producers can operate in a regulatory environment based on sound science and common sense — and one that includes the availability of safe and effective crop protection products. Are there chemicals facing scrutiny? The NCC recently submitted comments on the Environmental Protection Agency’s registration review of specific sulfonylurea chemicals in herbicides important to cotton production. Thifensulfuron-methyl, tribenuron-methyl and rimsulfuron are used in pre-plant burndown herbicides, and trifloxysulfuron-sodium is a post-emergent. The NCC urged EPA to consider in its review these chemicals’ weed resistance management benefits. We emphasized producers’ need for multiple herbicides with different modes of action so they can continue rotating or combining MOAs. Late last year, the NCC and producer interest organizations also provided comments to USDA in support of a deregulation decision regarding Dow AgroSciences’ genetically engineered cotton that is resistant to 2,4-D and glufosinate. There are several organophosphate pesticides under EPA review. NCC-submitted comments urged the agency to recognize the benefits of the insecticides dicrotophos (Bidrin) and dimethoate. These provide producers

By Clint Thompson To combat the threat of thrips infestations in cotton, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension cotton entomologist Phillip Roberts encourages Georgia farmers to be proactive with at-plant insecticide applications. Doing so will provide vital protection to cotton plants during...

By Carroll Smith Editor In 1949, U.S. President Harry S. Truman was inaugurated for his second term, world heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis retired, and Doc Kirby, B.H. Bass Jr. and Duff Holcomb – three men from the Mississippi Delta –...

By Jodi Raley California cotton producers, ginners, pest control advisers and cotton industry organizations gathered in the halls of the Visalia Convention Center for the California Cotton Growers Association’s 26th Annual Meeting. With 2015 California cotton acreage hitting a historical...

Aldicarb Available For Use In Georgia In 2016 Farmers will soon be able to purchase AgLogic 15G Aldicarb Pesticide, which is essentially the same as Temik in formulation and performance. Ag Logic Chemical LLC, the registrant of AgLogic 15G Aldicarb Pesticide,...

California’s drought and environmental water reallocations  take a chronic toll on cotton. By Vicky Boyd Managing Editor Ever since he was 3 years old, Chad Crivelli — a diversified row-crop producer near Dos Palos, Calif. — has wanted to be a farmer....

This month I had the pleasure of interviewing award winners, company managers and people in leadership positions in industry organizations. All are very successful in their careers. You would think with these personal accomplishments that it would be all...

Now that everyone has settled into the New Year, it is a perfect time to review and update your estate plan. Because situations change–marriages are celebrated, children are born, deaths occur–taking the time to update previously drafted documents is critical. Draft Basic Documents First, ensure at least the basic estate planning documents are in place. This includes a will, power of attorney, medical power of attorney, and an advanced healthcare directive (often called a living will). For some, trust documents or life insurance policies may also be beneficial. Additionally, it is recommended that an inventory list be prepared. This list should include information about bank accounts, insurance policies, retirement accounts, property ownership and so forth. Taking the time to prepare these documents now can help avoid conflict and stress for loved ones left behind. Prepare A ‘Death File’ Once the basic estate planning documents are in place, it is important to ensure that they are all collected in one place and that at least one other responsible person is aware of this location. Ideal locations include a home safe, bank deposit box, or on file with an attorney. Ensure that the person(s) named power-of-attorney and executor know the location of these documents and are able to access them if needed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZXTwmEZ2Kc Cotton farmers need advanced technologies to increase their productivity and profitability. Deltapine® NPE Keeff Felty of Altus, OK, says the upcoming technology that he is most excited about is dicamba-tolerant cotton. Key Takeaways: Dicamba tolerant cotton gives growers another weed management...

Assessments Fund Improvements in Cotton Production, Marketing & Research Andrew Burleson, president of the North Carolina Cotton Producers Association, and a cotton producer in Stanly County, has announced that a referendum will be held on Friday April 01, 2016 from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. on the question of the continuation of the assessment, or “check-off”, on cotton for another six-year period. Purpose of assessment: The assessment allows North Carolina cotton producers to assess themselves to provide funds to pay for improvements in cotton production, marketing and research and to promote the general interests of North Carolina’s cotton industry. Amount of the assessment: The referendum authorizes up to one dollar per-bale, although the North Carolina Cotton Producers Association board of directors plans to continue the assessment at the current level of .80 cents per-bale for the foreseeable future.

By Seth Fiedler CSP Program Manager Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack recently announced that $150 million in funding is available for agricultural producers through the Conservation Stewardship Program, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s largest conservation program that helps producers voluntarily improve...

New MOA To Stop Pigweed Cotton farmers now have a new pre-emergence herbicide and class of chemistry in the fight against resistant weeds. SePRO Corp. has announced that on Feb. 11, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency registered Brake herbicide for cotton. The company says that Brake offers exceptional cotton tolerance with extended residual weed control, providing a great start and maximizing yield potential. Brake is a strong residual herbicide that provides the foundation for comprehensive weed control, regardless of traits. It controls herbicide-resistant Palmer amaranth and other broadleaf weeds and grasses. This herbicide excels under wet conditions, providing assurance when farmers are unable to make timely post-emergence herbicide applications. “Having the opportunity to develop Brake alongside the grower community has been invaluable for this new class of chemistry for cotton,” says Bill Culpepper, CEO SePRO Corp. To learn more, go to brakeherbicide.com. Still Time To Join The 2015 One Ton Club Cotton farmers who plant FiberMax cotton seed are eligible to join the One Ton Club if they harvested 2,000 lb./A on at least 20 acres in 2015. The qualification deadline is April 6, 2016. Growers who qualify for membership receive FiberMax One Ton Club

It is easier to sell fear than facts. This is a concept that the Environmental Working Group (EWG) knows all too well and has built a brand and an empire based on that business model. Scaring people about everything from suntan lotion to farm policy, you name it, they probably have some pseudoscientific report for it. And, if you just “rush a donation to help EWG before midnight tonight,” the group can “shut down” this problem once and for all, the email blasts to their followers usually reads. But, people are catching on to that game. Specifically, this past weekend, one mother and writer took EWG to task in an editorial that describes pointedly how the group has been using fear as a revenue raiser while pushing dubious claims. “It was only fairly recently that I learned that even though the EWG has secured the trust of many parents, some of their warnings and recommendations don’t hold up to scientific scrutiny,” writes Jenny Splitter in the Salon.com story. In fact, as the story highlights, the EWG uses this misplaced trust to endorse certain products and industries it is financially linked to through other business arrangements. “Now more than ever, their plans for profit are tied to the very companies they’re supposed to be independently reviewing,” continues Splitter. “If parents knew the facts, the EWG couldn’t prey on our fears.” Farm Policy Facts agrees.

As the Cotton Research and Promotion Program enters its 50th year, The Cotton Board is launching a new campaign directed at producers that will give them the confidence needed to renew their faith in cotton.It is a hard time to be a cotton farmer. Cotton is entering into new territory, a time when prices are low, market share is declining and federal farm policy isn’t what many had hoped it would be. The Cotton Research and Promotion Program (the Program) has a positive story to tell and a legacy to back it up, but it must not get bogged down in the past. So the new campaign is a forward-looking rally cry for the cotton industry, letting the cotton-growing community know that the Program is pressing on and the possibilities are limitless. Fifty years ago, another generation of cotton producers formed a public/private partnership to strengthen research and promotion for cotton. The producers who helped launch the Cotton Research & Promotion Program in 1966 faced similar challenges of declining market share, low prices and energized competition. They came together to ensure the future of cotton in the marketplace and in their communities. There is no single reason why cotton is again facing declining market share and disappointing prices, but there is only one group throughout the world that is actively trying to do something about it – the U.S. cotton industry. Only the U.S. cotton industry invests this amount of effort and level of funding into cotton research and promotion to increase cotton consumption worldwide.