The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) is the voice of the U.S. domestic textile industry in Washington, DC. With more than 150 current members, NCTO represents manufacturers from every major sector of the industry, including fiber, yarn, fabric, home furnishings and finished apparel producers. NCTO is focused on influencing federal policies, programs and regulations that advance the interests of the U.S. textile sector.
In 2014 2014 has been another radical weather year, being cooler and wetter than any year I recollect. We were able to get almost all the cotton planted during the first 10 days of May with very little replant necessary. Cotton grew off slowly and has crept along at a snail's pace all year. Although maturity of the later cotton is a concern, I constantly tell my growers that I would much rather have mid-80 degree highs and mid-60 degree lows than 75-80 degree lows and 100-plus degree highs.
West Tennessee producer/ginner Richard Kelley has observed many changes in the cotton industry for the past 40 years. In this interview with Cotton Farming, he discusses some of the major issues as harvest and ginning seasons approach. What's uppermost in your mind as ginning season approaches? The thoughts that come to mind are "survival" and the future of cotton in our area. These are challenging times for cotton as we deal with weak demand, larger carryover and lower prices.
I have been fascinated with cotton my entire life. I recall my father, while working on his graduate degree at the USDA Boll Weevil Research Lab in Starkville, Miss., in the late 1960s, returning from a trip to Guatemala and Mexico. He told me of native cotton plants he had seen that were large enough to support a man. At that young age, it was explained to me that cotton was a woody perennial plant that man had modified to grow as an annual. Thus, it is of no surprise that as we prepare to terminate the crop, it tends to resist.
American cotton is considered to have some of the lowest levels of contamination in the world, and that reputation for low contamination levels has come to be expected by foreign and domestic mills. With this low contamination reputation comes...
The troublesome plant bug is a cotton insect pest that is persistent – or so it seems. There is simply no other way to describe this devilish bug. It has always been around, but when the boll weevil eradication...
By this time, you’ve already seen numerous stories about the passing of Dr. Carl Anderson, renowned Texas A&M economist who had a global reputation for analyzing and understanding the cotton market. And there isn’t much we can add to that long list of tributes. This man, who passed away at the age of 83, was a walking encyclopedia and could talk for hours about market trends in cotton. However, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention his generosity and patience whenever we called on him to help us at Cotton Farming magazine. Even during my days at the National Cotton Council (1985-1998), I can remember doing radio interviews with Anderson, and one constant theme always came through. He couldn’t say “no” to any request.
By the time most of you read this story, a busy summer will have come to an end, and we will be moving full speed into the fall season. It’s hard to believe time is moving by so quickly. Suffice it to say but it was an extremely busy June, July and August.
Although you’ve heard about the trip I took to Montana for the National Cotton Council’s Multi-Commodity Education Tour and the Southern Cotton Ginners’ summer meeting in Branson, Mo., other recent events are worth mentioning.
While there are other field day events on the calendar in September, I would be remiss...
By Robert Royal
Midnight, Miss.
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As I pedaled my new bike down the dusty turnrow toward the barn, I noticed bolls opening in the cotton field along the way, and I smelled the acrid stench of defoliant in the air. Inside...
Southern cotton ginners know how to adapt to changing market conditions. In fact, you might say that they have rewritten the book on this topic in the last few years.
That "flexibility" was a major topic of discussion at the...
FLORIDA David Wright
Even though we can set fruit through early September, most cotton fields have the crop set that will be harvested, and many will be defoliating in late September or early October. Cotton generally had a late start...
USDA Accepting Comments On Monsanto’s New Technology
USDA is now accepting public comments on the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Monsanto's next generation dicamba-tolerant weed management technologies, Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybeans and Bollgard II XtendFlex cotton....
Through the years, I have found that it's easier to go to an expert when you want to learn more about any segment of the U.S. cotton industry. Believe it or not, there is always somebody around to answer...
Australian and U.S. cotton producers annually devote $20 million and $50 million, respectively, to agricultural research. This investment: 1) enables them to achieve continual and substantial environmental improvements; 2) eliminates the alternative of farm level certification programs; and 3) extends the research activity beyond the farm gate to all sectors associated with the manufacture of cotton yarns, textiles and apparel.
