OK, I’ll admit that I am overly sentimental and nostalgic about events from the past. It doesn’t matter whether we’re talking about high school, college, old neighborhoods, careers or anything else. There is something very entertaining and special when we reminisce about our past. And as we prepare for the National Cotton Council’s Annual Meeting at the Peabody Hotel here in Memphis on Feb. 6-8, I can’t help but recall the first NCC Annual Meeting I attended in January of 1986 in Orlando, Fla.
The industry and NCC have changed a lot since those days, but it’s interesting how first impressions stay with us for a lifetime. That is how it was 29 years ago. I had only worked in the NCC Communications Department for less than six months when I made the trip to this meeting. Naturally, I was a bit apprehensive since I didn’t know that many people in the industry. However, before this meeting ended, I found that my circle of friends would increase dramatically – mainly because cotton people might be the most congenial folks in the world.
ALABAMA
Charles Burmester On Feb. 1, I will have worked 35 years for Auburn University in northern Alabama. As I have been packing my office and preparing to retire, I once again realize how quickly cotton farmers must change to...
Dr. Robert Lemon
PhytoGen Cotton Development Specialist
Dow AgroSciences, East Texas
I recently was visiting with some Upper Gulf Coast growers, reflecting on the outstanding cotton crops we’ve made over the past three years. We’ve had numerous growers break the three-...
Another bearish cotton supply and demand report is released and ongoing issues continue with Turkey – our second largest market. Cheap oil means cheaper polyester. A generation of our greatest leadership is retiring in Phil Burnett, Mark Lange, Wally...
The Texas Cotton Ginners’ Association extends to you an invitation to join us at our 108th Annual Meeting and Trade Show in Lubbock, Texas, on April 9-10.
Our theme for this year’s event is “Full Speed Ahead” as we move...
Finding The Right Source
United States Fashion Industry Association (USFIA) members – fashion brands, retailers, importers and wholesalers based in the United States and doing business globally – are industry leaders in terms of ethical sourcing.
While our members have always...
The U.S. cotton harvest was moving along rapidly at the time of this writing (early November). Although picking efforts in Texas lagged the normal pace, harvest across most of the Cotton Belt advanced well, producing a good quality crop.
The Memphis Territory (Ark., Ala., La., Miss. and Tenn.) is expecting about 3.3 million bales, and the USDA has classed 2.2 million to date. About 900,000 bales of the 2.8 million expected from Georgia and Florida have been classed to date, as have 1.9 million of TexaJan 2015 Cotton Farming_Page_08_Image_0001s and Oklahoma’s expected 6.6 million bales.
In the first third of classings to be completed this season country- wide, 73.2 percent are of tenderable qualities. We are in agreement with the USDA and believe the United States will produce 15.9 million bales in the 2014/15 season.
More noteworthy is the percentage of much sought after high grades with long staple. The Memphis territory has produced around 73 percent middling (31) and better color, and 44 percent
In recent crop years, Chinese import demand was supported by official cotton policies. The defining element of these policies was a government stockpiling program that enforced price guarantees made to producers by physically taking possession of bales.
Guaranteed prices of...
Crisis. It’s hard to even think about the future when things seem to be crumbling down around you. In the cotton business, it’s rare to find a sustained period of good crops, reasonable prices, a stable farm program, strong...
The outlook for Australia’s cotton production in 2015 is turning increasingly downbeat. An unusually hot and dry October crimped early germination and depleted local irrigation supplies. Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology reported the country as a whole saw the seventh driest and hottest October on record.
The main cotton-producing states of Queensland (ninth driest) and New South Wales (twelfth driest) saw an unusually dry October, with rainfall only 23 percent and 34 percent of their mean October amounts, respectively. It was the same for heat across the two key cotton-producing states.
In fact, after commencing with temperatures generally near average, October developed into an unusually warm month with well-above-average temperatures across the entire country. This intensification of heat later coincided with the typical acceleration in cotton plantings, suggesting temperatures may have been too hot, too soon, for young seedlings.
What motivates a person to pursue a career as a cotton consultant? No matter how that question is posed, you might receive numerous answers. But, one familiar theme rings true for those who have chosen this career – commitment....
