The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) has awarded more than $18 million in grants to small businesses for high quality, advanced research and development that will lead to technological innovations and solutions for American agriculture. NIFA awarded 100 grants through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. "Small businesses are adept at finding solutions that can advance agriculture, create new jobs and grow our economy," says USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack. "These grants will provide resources so small businesses can innovate and create new breakthroughs. The SBIR program has provided hundreds of small businesses with the ability to explore new ideas that have led to cutting- edge solutions to pressing challenges and helped keep American agriculture innovative and strong." The SBIR program exists to stimulate technological innovations in the private sector and to...
The chief executive officer of Levis Strauss, Chip Bergh, recently made headlines by sharing some unusual advice for those of us who wear denim jeans.
What is his advice? Don't wash your jeans, ever.
He says keeping jeans out of the...
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...
Bob Glodt of Plainview, Texas, Cotton Consultant of the Year (CCOY) for 2013, was recently honored at a special reception and dinner at the Beltwide Cotton Conferences in New Orleans. A crowd of more than 150 was on hand...
BY BRUCE KIRKSEY
MEMPHIS, TENN.
We are very blessed to be part of American agriculture. Maybe it’s be-cause of the Thanksgiv-ing and Christmas seasons, but I am truly proud to be a part of agriculture.
I am very proud of the fact...
A 2011 tour of Mid-South cotton fields was organized by the Weed Science Society of America (WSSA) to acquaint federal agencies with the emerging problem of glyphosate-resistant Palmer amaranth.
One tour participant thought fluridone (trade name Brake), originally discovered nearly...
The central focus of the Agricultural and Environmental Research department at Cotton Incorporated is identifying and addressing issues cotton producers see having an impact on their farms. One issue they recently identified, through an electronic "Producer Priority Survey," was...
Water, or the lack of it, obviously can have a serious impact on a cotton farmer’s bottom line. “If you don’t have water, you definitely will not maximize the yield potential of your chosen varieties,” says Dr. Ed Barnes,...
The 2013 Beltwide Cotton Conferences in San Antonio will once again feature updates on research and technology at the annual Ginning Conference. Some technologies are becoming more and more economical and can easily be integrated into the gin operation.
One...
By Brent Murphreee
Maricopa, Ariz.
The Third International Lygus Symposium was held in Scottsdale, Ariz., in October and brought together the most important players in lygus research, with an impressive showing by Western cotton pest researchers.
The objectives of the previous symposiums...
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...
New grants totaling $8.4 million from the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Agency for Internat-ional Development and industry partners are helping University of California-Davis plant scientist Eduardo Blumwald reach out to feed and fuel the world.
With his laboratory colleagues,...
The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers recently presented awards to nine members of notable career achievements, including ginning leader Thomas D. Valco of USDA-ARS located in Stoneville, Miss.
Valco was awarded the 2012 Mayfield Cotton Engineering Award in...
Two county Farm Bureaus in California have earned nati-onal recognition for innovative programs – one which informs members about regulations affecting their businesses and one that uses a fun activity to educate schoolchildren about local farms.
The San Joaquin Farm...
Bringing new farm-based products and processes to cotton farmers is one of the most important goals Cotton Incorporated’s Agricultural and Environ-mental Research Division tries to achieve each year.
“When we are able to bring producers a product that we’ve developed...
