United States cotton producers intend to plant 9.549 million acres this year. If realized, this will be 13.5 percent less than 2014 and the lowest acreage since 2009. This decline is not unexpected; cotton prices are low for the...

At times, it appears that the cotton insect landscape changes more quickly than the Dow Jones Industrial numbers on the stock market each day. We blink our eyes, and a new insect has become a serious threat in a region of the Cotton Belt. Or, in other cases, a pest that was dormant for several years suddenly flares and catches everybody by surprise. To the outsider, it’s as if Mother Nature won’t let us off the hook. For example, just because the cotton industry eradicated the boll weevil many years ago doesn’t mean farmers are home free. The next pest threat is just around the corner.

Business owners around the country have joined with farmers and ranchers in speaking out on the Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule. More than 30 states also oppose the rule. Yet, even in the face of mounting opposition, the...

By Dahlen Hancock: I recently had the good fortune to travel to Asia to celebrate “Cotton Day” events in Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Thailand as president of Cotton Council International (CCI). Consumers clearly love their cotton. We celebrate Cotton Days in May because this is the time of the year in the United States when we go back to the fields and plant the seeds that give us cotton, the world’s favorite fiber. It’s a wonderful fiber – a true gift from the earth. This year, Cotton Days publicized the COTTON USA “I Love My Cotton” campaign, which encourages consumers and brands alike to share their own reasons for loving cotton. Cotton Days also celebrated the 26th anniversary of COTTON USA, while illustrating the brand’s genuine, passionate and visionary attributes. One of the aspects I remember most about Cotton Days is the consumers’ irresistible energy and enthusiasm for COTTON USA in the Asian markets I visited. I recall telling CCI staff how I wished I could bottle the energy at each event, and take it back with me to Texas, to share it with my fellow U.S. cotton producers, showing them what we do is highly appreciated. The creativity and excitement generated around U.S. cotton is truly wonderful and a big vote of confidence for our industry.

ARIZONA Early season management of cotton for optimum initiation and retention of fruiting forms is critical to the overall success of the eventual crop. Several factors can contribute to poor early season fruit set, resulting in increased vegetative growth and...

We have made great strides in the last 20 years with the eradication of the boll weevil in almost all parts of the Cotton Belt and the adoption of Bt cotton varieties that substantially control caterpillar pests. However, there are still annual battles with insect and mite pests that require our diligence. Starting at the beginning, thrips management typically requires the use of at-planting insecticides. Almost everyone is using an insecticide seed treatment, and the option for Temik is no longer available. The spreading resistance of tobacco thrips to thiamethoxam, the active ingredient in Cruiser, caught us a little by surprise the last several years. In the Mid-South, this has essentially put an end to the use of Cruiser and other thiamethoxam- based insecticide seed treatments in cotton. We are concerned about going down a similar path with imidacloprid (e.g. Gaucho) as it is being used now almost exclusively.

The Loan Chart has taken a fatal blow. After more than half a century of existence, it simply didn’t have the capacity to adjust to the shifts we saw in this past year. Specifically, there has been no way...

12 Cotton Industry Members Chosen For NCC’s Emerging Leaders Program Twelve U.S. cotton industry members have been chosen to participate in the National Cotton Council’s (NCC) Emerging Leaders Program for 2015-16. Participants include: Producers: Rafe Banks, Clarkedale, Ark. Brandon Brooks, Phoenix, Ariz. Matt Coley,...

A new Farm Bureau advocacy website is giving farmers and ranchers a simple way to “Get a Move On” for GMOs. Launched recently, GetaMoveOn.fb.org allows producers to support a national, science-based labeling standard similar to the approach taken in the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act (H.R. 1599). “This website has a very specific function: To motivate farmers and ranchers to take action in support of important innovation in agriculture,” says Andrew Walmsley, American Farm Bureau Federation biotechnology specialist. “Whether you grow corn and soybeans in the Midwest, cotton in the South, dairy and potatoes in the Northeast or apples in the West, access to crop traits that resist pests, diseases

Western cotton producers and pest control specialists are staying alert for changing field conditions because of this season’s erratic weather patterns and continued water concerns in the region. In California, early season cotton was subject to pressures that are not...

The Texas High Plains (THP), largest contiguous cotton patch in the world, had faced an unprecedented drought in 2011 and was unable to recover from the severe drought conditions until last fall. The insect pressure in cotton was relatively low during those dry years. The region has now received significant moisture. In fact, THP cotton planting to date has been limited to less than 10 percent due to the frequent rain events, which would have approached 50 percent in more normal years. We expect the planting to speed up as soon as the weather clears up. With good area-wide moisture and roadside weed hosts in high abundance, a higher-than-usual insect pressure can be expected this year in the THP and throughout Texas. Roadside weed hosts, Conservation Reserve Program grasses and wheat serve as excellent sources of thrips that could likely move to seedling cotton upon wheat harvest or weed senescence. Thrips are considered the most significant insect pest of THP cotton, primarily because their damage is generally compounded with early season environmental injury of seedling cotton brought on by high winds, sandstorms and cool/wet weather.

https://youtu.be/VoZELI--abQ Featured New Product Evaluator: Chad Brown, from Lubbock, Texas Nematode pressure can cripple a cotton field. Deltapine® NPE Chad Brown of Lubbock, Texas, says that Deltapine® develops a number of nematode-resistant varieties without sacrificing quality. Deltapine determines nematode pressure through soil...

It is hard to describe the behavior of the dreaded stink bug, which has wreaked havoc on cotton fields in the Southeast – and especially Georgia – for nearly two decades. The bad news is that this pest is here to stay. The good news is that farmers have tools and technology that are helping control the state’s No. 1 cotton insect pest. In addition to new strategies, researchers now seem to understand the pest’s behavior as compared to pre-Bt cotton days before 1996. Extension entomologist Phil Roberts, based in Tifton, Ga., says it’s also easier to explain other scientific facts about this pest. “I have had a lot of farmers ask why we can’t eradicate the stink bug – especially after we eradicated the boll weevil,” he says. “The only way you can eradicate any pest is if there is a weak link in its biology.”

Several years ago, I attended a press briefing at the Beltwide Cotton Conferences to hear about a new venture called COTTON LEADS, and it was an intriguing concept, to say the least. At the time, it sounded extremely ambitious, and many attendees wondered if such a project could achieve its goal of bringing together the U.S. and Australian cotton industry as well as retail partners – all in an effort to promote best management practices and traceability in the cotton supply chain. It also was deemed an important initiative to help cotton regain market share. Here we are today, and nobody can question how successful this venture has been in such a short time period. More than 300 participants are now on board, and it’s an interesting group that includes yarn spinners, textile/apparel manufacturers, brands and retailers. What makes this program so unique is that there is no cost or certification attached to it. Partners voluntarily participate because they see the need for cotton to tell its story to a global audience. Many objectives can be achieved by COTTON LEADS – and that in itself is the beauty of the process.

The weather is usually far from consistent, but for the third year, we have seen a pattern of wet springs that make it difficult for Mid-South cotton growers to plant crops. They are forced to plant when Mother Nature allows between frequent rains. Often, planting conditions are far from ideal; perpetual wetness prevents staggering of plantings. Typically, the majority of cotton fields planted in the South Delta – from around Memphis farther south to the latitude of the Red River Valley in Louisiana – would have been planted by late April. Despite the reduced number of cotton acres throughout the Mid-South this year, the inability to stagger plantings and the timing of fertilizer and insecticide applications coming together simultaneously is making it challenging for growers to manage.