Friday, March 13, 2026

Cotton Quality and Yields

Texas Home Run

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

Promising Outlook For 2014

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.

Wild Ride For Missouri Cotton

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.

The China Factor

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

Miraculous Crops Give Farmers Hope

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.

Texas Industry Stays Optimistic

BY TOMMY HORTON EDITOR When it comes to optimism about a new crop season, nobody exudes a positive attitude better than Texas cotton producers and ginners. Yes, the state is still in the midst of a three-year drought, but there are...

Time To Start Planning For 2014

For all practical purposes, the 2013 cotton has been harvested. There may be a few isolated fields that haven’t been harvested, but these would be on the heavier, wetter soils that are prone to flooding. More importantly, the modules have been taken to the gins. I haven’t seen a module truck on the road for at least three weeks.

What are you hoping for in the 2014 cotton crop season?

I am hoping for a lot of things, and I certainly hope that by the time this magazine is published in January that we’ll have a Farm Bill. We need for that to happen, along with a settlement of the WTO/Brazil case. And I am also hoping for some stability in the markets – especially as it pertains to China and India. It distresses me that these two countries’ actions can have such a significant impact on what happens to U.S. cotton in terms of cotton prices.

Reflections On A Memorable Year

Are we ready to look back on 2013 and remember the events and people that made it such an unforgettable year? Some of you may already be groaning because it sounds like I’m about to travel down the nostalgia highway again. Bear with me. We’ll try not to go overboard here.

Farmers Affected By ‘Fiscal Cliff’

Unless Congress acts before the end of the year, come Jan. 1, the U.S. economy will fall off a “fiscal cliff.” That’s when a number of tax breaks and government program spending will be cut in order to try...

Spinners Need Fiber Analysis To Ensure Quality

By Andrew Macdonald Cotton/Textile Consultant ITMF Board Member Meeting Customer Demands What do customers want? The fast evolution of the textile industry is moving toward a more demanding customer. It places product performance initially on the basic raw material, but performance also is being...

A Volatile Market

Economists Anderson, Shurley Offer Some Perspective   EDITOR’S NOTE – Texas A&M agricultural economist Carl Anderson and Georgia Extension economist Don Shurley have observed the cotton market for many years and have seen plenty of volatility during that time. In this...

Specialists Speaking

MISSOURI Mike Milam milammr@missouri.edu For all practical purposes, the Missouri cotton crop is harvested. The Missouri Crop Progress and Condition Report for the week ending Nov. 11 shows only 89 percent harvested. But I have not seen any cotton in the field...

Assessing Impact Of 2012 Weather Conditions

Chris Tarno Tarno Crop Management Piggott, Ark. (Consults in Clay County, Ark.; Dunklin and New Madrid Counties in Missouri) It is the middle of November; the entire cotton crop has currently been picked, and a majority of it has been ginned. For the weather...

It’s A Season For Giving Thanks

By Tommy Horton Editor And so we come to the end of 2012, reflecting on what actually happened during these previous 12 months, while looking ahead to what might await us in 2013. The Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays are a good...

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