Specialists Speaking Keith Edmisten / NORTH CAROLINA North Carolina has two variety testing programs: the Official Variety Testing (OVT) program and the On-Farm Testing (OFT) program. Growers should consider the results from both programs, as each has advantages and disadvantages. The...

Specialists Speaking Josh Lee / ALABAMA  As we get ready to start the 2026 cotton growing season, one of the questions is always “What variety are you planting this year?” Cotton variety selection is one of the first management decisions a...

Specialists Speaking Camp Hand / GEORGIA Going into 2026, my entire county meeting presentation has to do with variety selection. In a year where all growers in my neck of the woods want to talk about is the “J-word” (jassids), why...

Specialists Speaking Brian Pieralisi / MISSISSIPPI Variety selection should be at the forefront of cotton farmers’ to-do lists. Like most years, there are several new varieties hitting the market with limited third-party performance data. In Mississippi State’s On-Farm cotton variety demonstration,...

Specialists Speaking Ben McKnight / TEXAS Looking forward to the 2026 growing season, perhaps the most important decision growers will make about next year’s crop is the varieties they will plant and manage for the remainder of the season. With so...

Karn Dhingra / Communications Specialist / Texas A&M University Texas Crop and Weather Report Texas row crop producers are heading into planting season amid early weather uncertainty, shifting price relationships in major commodities, and ongoing economic pressure from high input costs,...

DR. John R.C. Robinson Professor and Extension Specialist for Cotton Marketing It is never too early to develop a marketing plan for the next crop year. Longer run price outcomes for the 2026 crop depend on expectations of supply and...

By Grant Saum, Mid-South Regional Communications Manager, The Cotton Board Across the Mid-South, Cotton Incorporated continues to invest in the future of cotton through its Agricultural and Environmental Research Division, funding projects that directly impact grower profitability and sustainability. Through two...

Brenda Ortiz, UC Merced / ucmerced.edu From colorful scraps to soil-like material, a groundbreaking two-year research study explores the journey of cotton textiles through composting. UC Merced researchers are collaborating on a two-year research project to develop effective composting methods for...

Don Shurley, UGA Emeritus Cotton Economist In 2026, provisions of an improved ARC/PLC income safety net and higher loan rates in the OBBBA will fully kick in.  Payments from the 2025 crop year will be received in October 2026.  Producers will...

Anthony Bly / SDSU Extension Soils Field Specialist Written collaboratively by Debankur Sanyal, Johnathon Wolthuizen and Anthony Bly. Soil has always been considered as a living system due to its biological components: fungi, bacteria and plant roots. While physical properties maintain...

Rosemary Brandt / Senior Director, Strategic Communications & Creative Services / arizona.edu Cotton is a famously thirsty crop, yet Arizona is one of the top U.S. producers. But how does a crop that thrives on water and humidity manage to...

Linda Geist /Sr. Strategic Communications Consultant / College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, MU Stink bugs vary in size and shape, but they are generally described as having shield-shaped bodies. Adult green stink bugs are usually light green. The...

DR. Cheryl Mackowiak Associate Professor Soil and Water Science North Florida Research and Education Center Fertilizer source is one of the four Rs of fertilizer management (Right source, Right place, Right time, and Right placement). Mineral fertilizers are typically synthesized (i.e., nitrogen from the...

DR. John R.C. Robinson / Professor and Extension Specialist for Cotton Marketing /  cottonmarketing.tamu.edu Through Friday, January 16, ICE cotton futures stepped up from the mid-64-cent level, bounced off the 65.20ish level multiple times, then gyrated back down to where...