An unusually warm, dry January slowed snowpack accumulation in much of the West, according to data from the second 2015 forecast by the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Water and Climate Center (NWCC). California, Arizona and New Mexico, as well as parts of Colorado, Utah, Oregon and Nevada, remain in prolonged drought.
“January is usually a big month for snowpack accumulation,” NWCC hydrologist Cara McCarthy says. “But most of the West didn’t see significant gains this month. With isolated exceptions, only Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Montana received near average precipitation last month.” “This is as low a snowpack as I’ve seen across the Sierra Nevada and Cascades for many locations at this time of year,” he says. Several Snow Telemetry (SNOTEL) sites in those ranges are snowless, which is very unusual for this time of year. Even the precipitation in the Southwest wasn’t enough to take these regions out of drought conditions.
Sledge Taylor, a Como, Miss., ginner, was elected National Cotton Council chairman for 2015. Named during the NCC’s recent annual meeting in San Antonio, he succeeds Wallace L. Darneille, a Lubbock, Texas, cooperative marketer.
Taylor is president of the Como...
By Bob Stallman, American Farm Bureau
American agriculture exported more than $152 billion in products last year alone, and there’s room for more growth yet. With Trade Promotion Authority expected to take center stage on the legislative agenda this spring,...
When you thumb through this issue of Cotton Farming, you will notice a definite Texas theme in the stories – and there is a reason for that. Our staff is preparing to travel to Lubbock next month for the...
By Christine Souza, California Farm Bureau
In counties throughout California, farmers and ranchers are working to improve the quality of water that leaves irrigated fields by using best management practices to reduce sediment, silt and other materials through regional Irrigated...
As implementation of the 2014 farm law continues, the National Cotton Council (NCC) reminds industry members of the obstacles that were overcome in order to maintain effective risk management tools in that law.
What was the initial obstacle?
Even before the...
Cotton Incorporated and the Cooperative Extension cotton specialists across the Belt have partnered to combine field variety trial data in a single webbased resource called SeedMatrix.
This online program provides access to new variety performance data. It is just one...
As I have mentioned in this space before, the U.S. cotton industry has a rich history that is always on full display at the National Cotton Council Annual Meeting each year. That was the case again at the meeting at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis just a few weeks ago. Call me sentimental or nostalgic, but it’s hard to put into words how special it is to meet cotton friends that I haven’t seen in many years. Maybe it was because of the retirements of long-time staffers John Maguire and Mark Lange, but a large number of cotton industry persons showed up at this meeting.
It was a particular pleasure to spend time with two persons – Mississippi producer Bruce Brumfield and former NCC executive vice president Earl Sears. When I think about people who have always been willing to share their time, these two are at the top of the list.
Brumfield was president of the NCC in 1994, and when I think about how he juggled farm and business responsibilities in Inverness, Miss., it’s hard to believe he could manage his time so well that year.But, like every NCC industry leader...
Bowen Flowers, a Clarksdale, Miss., cotton producer, was re-elected as chairman of the American Cotton Producers (ACP) of the National Cotton Council (NCC) for 2015, during the NCC’s annual meeting held in Memphis, Tenn. Currently a NCC director, Flowers has served on and chaired various ACP and NCC committees and task forces.
Elected as an ACP vice chairmen were: Kendall Wannamaker, St. Matthews, SC; and Doyle Schniers, San Angelo, Texas. Re-elected as a vice chairman was Dan Thelander, Maricopa, Arizona.
Elected as a NCC producer director was Ronald C. Lee, Bronwood, Ga., representing the Southeast region; and Cannon Michael, Los Banos, Calif., representing the Western region. Re-elected as producer directors were Ted Schneider, Lake Providence, La., representing the Mid-South region; Shawn Holladay, Lubbock, Texas, representing the Southwest region, and Flowers, as at-large director.
Stan Winslow of Belvidere, N.C., winner of the 2014 Cotton Consultant of the Year (CCOY) award, was honored by his peers at a special reception last month at the Beltwide Cotton Conferences in San Antonio.
A crowd of more than 150 attended the event at the Marriott Rivercenter Hotel. The award is co-sponsored by Cotton Farming and Syngenta.
Winslow and his wife Lou Ann, along with nine family members, were in attendance. Publisher Lia Guthrie joined Syngenta’s Josh Kelley in presenting the traditional CCOY winner’s green jacket and special plaque to Winslow. “I have to say that this is easily the highlight of my career,” Winslow said in accepting the award. “It’s just a very special honor to be a member of this group of previous winners.”
Winslow is the president of Tidewater Agronomics, which he started in 1998. He also is a past president of the National Alliance of Independent Crop Consultants and the North Carolina Ag Consultants Association.
