The National Cotton Council continues to work with Congress and the Administration to ensure farmers are not further burdened by over-reaching regulations. Any concerns conveyed recently to Congress? Those testifying at a recent House Agri-culture Committee subcommittee hearing agreed there were a number of factors driving up production costs, including increased prices for inputs, machinery and new technologies. The witnesses also agreed that another factor was the dramatic increase in the number of regulations and policies put in place by federal agencies, especially EPA. They explained that crop protection businesses that support American agriculture recently have seen serious deviations from the regular order, transparency and scientific integrity of EPA’s risk assessment-based pesticide review process. The witnesses urged Congress and stakeholders to work with government agencies, including EPA, to ensure that no policies are enacted that would prevent farmers and ranchers from economically producing food and fiber. They also emphasized that due to the rising costs and the recent collapse in net farm income, farmers and ranchers will need every tool available to help minimize their production costs. The witnesses’ testimonies are at https://1.usa.gov/1VBYrH6.

Sporting a faded, floppy-brimmed fedora, Aunt Blanche would lay on the horn of her bob truck even though my older brother, Mike, and I were waiting for her on our front porch. We grabbed our new 9-foot-long Bemis Blue...

Overhead seed houses are valuable for short-term seed storage, wet seed storage and gins with limited yard space. With recent design improvements, overhead seed houses can also provide a highly efficient method for loading trucks from flat-storage houses. When fully...

On April 12, Oklahoma Farm Bureau President Tom Buchanan urged Congress to hold the Environmental Protection Agency accountable for its burdensome regulations and aggressive tactics against U.S. farmers and ranchers. In testifying before the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Superfund, Waste Management and Regulatory Oversight, Buchanan explained how Oklahoma’s farmers and ranchers are affected by the EPA’s regulations, especially its Waters of the United States rule. “After carefully studying the proposed rule, we at Farm Bureau concluded that the rule’s vague and broad language would define ‘waters of the United States’ to include countless land areas that are common in and around farm fields and ranches across the countryside. These are areas that don’t look a bit like water,” Buchanan said in his testimony. “They look like land, and they are farmed, but by defining them as ‘waters of the U.S.’ the rule would make it illegal to farm, build a fence, cut trees, build a house, or do most anything else there without first asking permission of the federal government and navigating a costly and complex permitting regime.” Buchanan also highlighted EPA’s misleading advocacy for its own rule, using public relations and social media campaigns to garner support.

Hands-on operators continue the family legacy. By Carroll Smith Editor Ginger and Sharion Croom spent a portion of their childhood growing up in a small white farmhouse that stands about 100 feet from the shop at L&G Farms in Southeast Missouri. After...

With U.S. cotton facing ever-stronger competition from other countries’ growths and from man-made fibers, the National Cotton Council believes it is imperative that our industry increase efforts to prevent lint contamination. What steps have been initiated? Earlier this year, the NCC re-established its Quality Task Force to monitor ongoing quality issues and stay abreast of lint contamination incident reports. Increased complaints from textile mills are threatening U.S. cotton’s reputation. The NCC took another step when it recently amplified its existing contamination prevention policy — directing the task force to coordinate and oversee the creation and implementation of a comprehensive and effective contamination prevention program for cotton producers and gins. This effort is in collaboration with the NCC’s American Cotton Producers, the National Cotton Ginners Association (NCGA), and other producer and ginner interest organizations. harvest cotton not plasticAre plastics still the major concern? Plastics continue as the major contamination source whether from shopping bags and black plastic mulch to irrigation poly pipe and module wraps. We are urging producers to be diligent in removing from their fields all forms of plastic throughout the season and especially prior to harvest. Producers should try to eliminate other potential contaminants, such as seed coat fragments, excess bark and oil/grease. More and more textile mills are using expensive

As consumers continue to incorporate more fitness into their daily routines, they want to be able to wear the same clothing not just during sports but also during everyday activities, such as grocery shopping or to the office. Cotton...

ARKANSAS Establishing a healthy stand of cotton is the first step toward a successful season. Cotton does not tolerate difficulties encountered during its first weeks of growth very well. Variety selection and seed quality have a lasting effect on the...

In poker, when the chips are low and the stakes are high, a player may decide to take a risk and go “all in” to stay in the game. Farming has sometimes been compared to gambling. You put up...

One of my first memories was the arrival of my brother, Tom, in the summer of 1968. I was not quite 2 years old, but somehow it sticks with me. Growing up in Belzoni, Miss., provided a great environment...

Someone once said that failure to plan is planning to fail. I’m not sure who said it, but it’s one of those things that can really ring true sometimes. In these columns, my colleagues and I often talk about...

By Garret Montgomery University of Tennessee We have conducted research in Jackson, Tenn., on planting into green cover crops, and through trial and error, have found that it can be done effectively. Controlling and properly managing the cover crop are the...

By David L. Bush, Ph.D. LUBBOCK, Texas First, let me explain the title of this essay. Chilling injury is cellular damage to meristematic plant root tissues that often occurs when soil temperatures fall below 50 degrees Fahrenheit during the imbibition phase...

After a prolonged drought, rain finally fell in Texas. The much-needed water boosted the spirits of farmers and ginners, which was evident at the 109th Texas Cotton Ginners’ Association Annual Meeting and Trade Show. Attendees were upbeat and ready to learn more about the products and services being offered by numerous companies gathered at the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center. Tony Williams, TCGA executive vice president, says he received positive feedback during the show regarding the upcoming season. “Promising soil moisture appears to have generated a good attitude among the attendees who see enormous potential for the 2016 crop,” he says. “After going through a tough drought that began in 2011, conditions in 2016 are much improved. The South Texas crop is planted, and West Texas received timely rains to start the season. We have heard predictions that 5.5 million acres of cotton will be planted in the state this year. The general consensus is, ‘If we can’t get price, we can get yields.’” From the ginners’ perspective, Williams says farmers need to “bring bales to the gin.” Although the economic environment is tough, there is hope and good potential for that to happen in 2016.

Varieties Evaluated For Root-Knot Nematode Resistance The Deltapine New Product Evaluator Program is kicking off its ninth season this spring with nearly 200 growers evaluating seven new Bollgard II XtendFlex cotton variety candidates for the Class of 17. Three of those...