Tennessee cotton acreage is down 38 percent from last year. Producers in Tennessee planted 275,000 acres in 2014, and it is reported that 170,000 acres were planted in 2015. We are hopeful that cotton will rebound in Tennessee and...
For more than a quarter century, Wes Briggs has been the “footprints in the field,” helping his Georgia cotton farmers achieve the best possible yields.
Wes Briggs was raised in Greenville, Miss., attended Mississippi State University and later settled in...
The Cotton Research and Promotion Program (the Program) will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2016. The Program is carried out by cotton farmers and cotton importers who work together to increase the demand for and profitability of cotton. Its...
By Kay Ledbetter
Texas A&M AgriLife
Cotton production in the Texas High Plains can survive expected climate changes, especially if water is available to compensate for higher temperatures, and increased atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations can mitigate yield loss in dry years....
The steel blue eyes of West Texas cotton farmer Abe Froese Jr. are slightly shaded from the high-noon Texas sun by the brim of his black John B. Stetson cowboy hat as his head turns to gaze across his Lea County, N. M., cotton field.
“This field looks good. I was worried about how well it would take the rain, but she held up,” he says, pointing to an endless white blanket of DP 1522 B2XF that could yield between 3 and 4 bales an acre.
Froese’s father farmed cotton. So did his grandfather. Cotton farming isn’t just in his blood; it is in his heritage. The Seminole, Texas, farmer will have his 15th production season under his Texas-size rodeo belt buckle by the time the gins turn out his last bale. Froese also produces cotton in Gaines and Donley counties in Texas, while overseeing an additional 300 acres of chili peppers and 20 acres of jalapeños.
Sometimes a man just needs a chance to prove himself. For Bronwood, Ga., cotton farmer Neil Lee, that chance came in 2002 when the manager in his father’s farming operation left to take another job.
“I had two years at Georgia Southern University under my belt and had begun classes at Georgia Southwestern when Dad told me about the vacant position,” remembers Lee, thinking in the back of his mind that this might be the chance to start his farming career. The 22-year-old Lee told his father, Ronnie, he would like to take over the position because nobody else would care as much about the operation as a family member. Ronnie Lee didn’t have to consider it for long and said, “Let’s give it a shot.” Neil Lee has been running the crop production side of Lee Farms and learning the intricacies of farming ever since. In 2015, Lee and his farm team planted 5,500 acres of cotton in the heavy red clay soils of Lee and Terrell counties. At the beginning of the 2015 ginning season, they hoped to press 90,000 bales by the time gin stands shut down for the year.
On her TV show a few weeks ago, MSNBC hostess Melissa Harris-Perry admonished her guest, Alfonso Aguilar, when he used the words “hard worker” to describe Rep. Paul Ryan. Her reason – and I paraphrase – is that it...
Texas Drought Continues
To Dwindle
On Nov. 10, the Texas Farm Bureau reported that less than 5 percent of Texas is now suffering from dry and moderate drought conditions, thanks to recent rains.
Lingering areas of drought still exist near San Angelo,...
During 2015, the National Cotton Council worked diligently to encourage the implementation of sound farm programs while managing numerous trade and regulatory issues that threaten to undermine industry competitiveness.
What about the farm law and trade matters?
The NCC helped convince policy makers to implement the 2014 farm law’s insurance provisions beginning with the 2015 crop. We worked closely with USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) to improve the Stacked Income Protection Plan (STAX) provisions for the 2016 crop year. Based on those discussions, RMA recently announced several key STAX modifications for 2016, among them: 1) allowing producers to elect a zero percent coverage range by practice; 2) allowing written agreements that affect insurable acreage to apply to STAX; and 3) making STAX coverage available for cottonseed through an optional endorsement.
NCC staff and industry officials also coordinated with USDA to ensure the marketing loan program would allow cotton redemption from the loan at the adjusted world price to minimize disruption of flow and forfeitures. Equally important was getting USDA to implement a reporting and tracking system so producers and cooperatives could know their status relative to the unified payment limit. The NCC worked on multiple trade concerns. We helped defeat potentially damaging amendments to the cotton and textile industries during Congressional consideration of Trade Promotion Authority. During the Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations, we insisted that a yarn forward rule of origin be required for products granted preferential access to the U.S. market.
The Cotton Research and Promotion Program has announced dates for the 2016 Young Guns Tour of Cotton Incorporated headquarters in Raleigh, N.C. The Young Guns Tour targets young cotton producers who have not had the opportunity to visit the...
When I was a toddler, I got lost in a cotton field, literally. The brilliant white cotton seemed very tall to a little black-haired girl dressed to withstand the heat of a Louisiana afternoon in a red-checked pinafore. I...
Editor’s note: In addition to maturity zones 6-7 Credenz soybean varieties for 2016 that appeared in Soybean South, the following Credenz varieties also are suited for the Southern geography. View the 2016 Southern Soybean Variety Roster at www.soybeansouth.com.
Credenz
CZ 5147...
Once the harvest machinery has been parked, most farmers and consultants like to enjoy a little downtime and recreational activities. But before long, it’s time to start thinking about the next season in order to be properly prepared.
Most consultants schedule sessions with their farmer clients during the winter to begin this process since there is a lot of information to disseminate. The hot topic for everyone is how to protect and grow the bottom line in light of low commodity prices. In California, water availability still drives many of the decisions that cotton farmers have to make.
For example, California pest control adviser Larry Gallian, whose consulting career spans more than half a century, says “rain-snow-rain-snow-rain” is the plan that California cotton producers are interested in at this time. Gallian says competing crops, the price of cotton and trees being planted daily on agricultural land are some of the factors that are affecting cotton acreage and production decisions out West.
In other areas of the Cotton Belt, seasoned cotton consultants Bob Glodt, Bob Griffin and Mark Nemec agreed to share some of their top-of-the-list winter planning topics with Cotton Farming magazine.
