The 2017 Beltwide Cotton Conferences (BWCC) can help its attendees improve production, processing and marketing efficiency by providing them with insight into the latest available tools and research findings.
Those planning to attend the concurrent conferences, set for Jan. 4-6 at the Hyatt Regency Dallas Hotel in Dallas, Texas, are urged to register and make hotel reservations. Information about those arrangements is on the BWCC website at www.cotton.org/beltwide/. The site also includes the preliminary program and general information about the BWCC.
Consultants Conference
The 2017 BWCC will begin at noon on Jan. 4 with the half-day Cotton Consultants Conference – open to all attendees. The session will focus on topics of interest selected by a panel of consultants. Among presentations scheduled are: 1) updates on the status of and educational efforts for the use of auxin herbicides on transgenic cottons by Dow and Monsanto, 2) “The Smartirrigation Cotton App with a National Footprint,” a unique irrigation scheduling tool originally limited to Georgia and Florida that now is applicable across the entire U.S. Cotton Belt and 3) “Target Spot and Bacterial Blight” which will shed light on cultivar responses to various cotton diseases.
The Consultants Conference also will feature the “New Developments from Industry” session that includes reports on new varieties, chemistries, equipment and other emerging technologies.
Technical Conferences Schedule
The BWCC cotton technical conferences, which will provide updates on research and a look into the technology pipeline, will meet concurrently beginning on the morning of Jan. 5 and conclude by noon, Jan. 6.
Among the useful information that can be gleaned from those sessions will be updates on the research on several classes of insecticides and reports on successful weed management strategies. For example, the Weed Science Research Conference will include a presentation on achieving crop safety and weed control using varieties resistant to auxin herbicides.
For 2017, the cotton agronomy, physiology and soil technical conferences will be combined into one overall meeting with multiple sessions. Some topics being considered are a highly comprehensive simulation model of cotton physiology, nitrogen management for subsurface drip-irrigated cotton and quality/yield evaluation trials across the Cotton Belt.
The Ginning Conference will have several presentations critical to efficient processing and marketing. Topics include module averaging and lint contamination prevention, specifically the challenge presented by various plastic contaminants in seed cotton. This conference will include a panel discussion on issues associated with ginning cotton varieties with small seed size. Beginning the afternoon of Jan. 4, the National Cotton Ginners’ Association will hold several committee and subcommittee meetings. A schedule of those is at http://www.cotton.org/ncga/index.cfm.
In addition to the multitude of oral presentations, most of the technical conferences and the Consultants Conference will feature poster sessions that include results from studies conducted by world-class researchers.
Registration costs before Dec. 16 for the NCC-coordinated forum are: $200 for NCC/Cotton Foundation members, university and USDA researchers, Extension personnel, associations and consultants; $400 for non-NCC/Foundation members; and $80 for students. On-site conference self-registration kiosks will be available 24 hours a day beginning on the evening of Jan. 3. Starting on the morning of Jan. 4, NCC staff will be available for attendees needing assistance with registration and name badge printing.
The Beltwide Cotton Conferences annually brings together those with a stake in a healthy U.S. cotton production sector, including university and U.S. Department of Agriculture researchers, Extension personnel/agents, consultants and industry sales/support personnel.
The National Cotton Council contributed information for this article.