BY KATE CAMPBELL CALIFORNIA FARM BUREAU The serious consequences to food production from the ongoing California drought rose to national prominence recently, as President Obama toured drought-stressed areas of the San Joaquin Valley, U.S. senators introduced a bill to address the...

The National Cotton Council has scheduled 45 informational meetings in 15 Cotton Belt states during March 17-25 to provide its members with a greater understanding of The Agricultural Act of 2014. NCC President/CEO Mark Lange said, “This new five-year...

Wallace L. Darneille, a Lubbock, Texas, cooperative marketer, was elected National Cotton Council chairman for 2014. Named during the NCC’s recent annual meeting in Washington, D.C., he succeeds Jimmy Dodson, a Robstown, Texas, cotton producer. Since 2004, Darneille has been...

I have worked in the clothing business for many years, and I have seen several changes in the production and marketing of jeans. Today, we have new finishes and treatments that give designers a wide range of looks from which to choose. We also have a new appreciation for products that do not harm the environment and utilize sustainable production practices.

Producers couldn’t stop farming their crops while the Farm Bill was being debated for two years. Neither can they afford to hold off planting until USDA crafts the final rules and regulations. Seed must be planted, and a crop nurtured until harvest. For now, it is market prices, or lack thereof, and the unknowns about the Farm Bill that will cause many producers to proceed with caution.

BY TOMMY HORTON EDITOR When visitors attend the Texas Cotton Ginners' Association Trade Show on April 3-4 in Lubbock, they'll see firsthand how far technology has taken the ginning industry. As they walk around the exhibit hall at the Civic Center,...

  By Tommy Horton Editor When it comes to learning important lessons, Missouri cotton producer Steve Droke and his son Skyler are in a class by themselves. They have learned through experience what it takes to prepare for a new crop season...

BY LAWRENCE ROMAN DIRECTOR OF MARKETING APPAREL PRODUCTION, INC. NEW YORK, N.Y. Substandard Conditions? As I write this article about quality cotton, I’m thinking of this past week. While Pitti Uomo showed menswear in Florence, Italy, the Las Vegas Consumer Electronic Show sure made...

Call it a Texas home run that was hit out of the ballpark. Or maybe it was the crop season of the decade. Put whatever label fits, and it might come close to describing what happened to Texas producer Robbie Harkey and his cotton crop in 2013. To the uninformed outsider, it would seem impossible that a producer could deliver a four-bale yield on acreage north of Lubbock near Hale Center

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced the appointment of 17 members and 17 alternates to The Cotton Board. The Cotton Board is appointed by the Secretary to oversee the Cotton Research & Promotion Program. All appointees will serve three-year terms beginning Jan. 1, 2014, and ending Dec. 31, 2016.

When we look at our USDA estimated yield of 956 pounds per acre, most producers are disappointed. When comparing our yield with some of our other Delta states, we note that their yields were much higher. In my estimation, we had the potential, but it is hard to overcome the effects of three weeks of heavy rainfall in July and August.

In 1984, when I was fresh out of high school, I had the opportunity to work with Dr. Ed Kowalski, who, at the time, was with the University of Missouri. About every 10 days, he came down to one of our local retailers, got a group of us together and taught us how to scout for thrips, plant bugs and worms during the pre-Bt days.

Since 2011, the Chinese government has purchased and stored almost 75 million bales of its production at a price well above world market prices. To meet its textile mills’ demand, about 20 million bales of that cotton have been sold, but as of early 2014, more than 50 million bales still resided in government storage.China’s stocks policy has been a recent boost for U.S. cotton farmers because its textile industry looked increasingly to the world market

Remember back in December when I was talking about some remarkable cotton crops produced last year in the Mid-South, Southeast and Southwest – even though weather conditions were less than ideal in those regions? Well, we stumbled onto one of those success stories in an area north of Lubbock, Texas, near Hale Center.

BY TOMMY HORTON EDITOR What was it like to attend the Beltwide Cotton Conferences in New Orleans a few weeks ago? Well, as expected, it was a different format. The attendance was about what officials anticipated – around 1,500. The weather...