Harvest

In the past six months during the coronavirus pandemic, the resilience of the human spirit has been tested beyond what many have ever experienced. The question that looms, whether spoken or unspoken, is “Will we make it through?” Sadly, some didn’t, but many have. I, for one, am optimistic about our future. In general, the agriculture sector has physically fared ... Read More »

“You can’t teach an old dog new tricks” is a saying first attributed to a 1530s animal husbandry book in reference to sheep dogs. I’d like to think it doesn’t apply to cotton growers and ag professionals. With that assumption, I’d like to propose two harvest-time challenges. • A Quick Plant Map. After defoliation but before harvest, take 5 minutes ... Read More »

Sporting a faded, floppy-brimmed fedora, Aunt Blanche would lay on the horn of her bob truck even though my older brother, Mike, and I were waiting for her on our front porch. We grabbed our new 9-foot-long Bemis Blue Cat cotton picking sacks made of heavy canvas with rubber dots on the bottom, and our paper bag lunches of rag ... Read More »

• By Clint Thompson • Georgia’s cotton crop was decimated by Hurricane Michael in 2018. Now, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension cotton agronomist Jared Whitaker is hoping his research will help alleviate some of the risks associated with harvesting cotton when tropical systems arrive in the fall. “With cotton production, we can’t do anything to prevent damage to the crop ... Read More »

Arkansas cotton growers may remember 2019 as one of their better years, despite a downward revision of expected yields, said Bill Robertson, extension cotton agronomist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. In October, the National Agricultural Statistics Service forecast Arkansas’ average yield at 1157 pounds per acre, but in November revised that downward to 1,102 pounds per ... Read More »

As I write this mid-November, harvest has not been progressing as expected in West Texas and the Rolling Plains, primarily due to unfavorable weather conditions. In the Rolling Plains of Texas, Dr. Emi Kimura reports from Vernon that their first freeze this year happened two weeks earlier than what would normally be expected. She does believe this has reduced the ... Read More »

In the world of agriculture, a lot can happen in a year. During the early months, your equipment may be sitting idle in the shed most of the time, but your mind is already shifting gears in preparation for the upcoming season. There are many decisions to make that can influence the endgame. One of the most important ones is ... Read More »