Two Clemson University students have developed a machine they say can minimize crop waste during harvest and help farmers save money.
The GPS-guided, unmanned ground vehicle (UGV), Agrus, was developed by students Megan Io Ariadne “Mia” Abenina and Jake Menloe...
Farmers who fear they are falling behind in farm technology might not be as behind as they think.
Kansas State University cropping system economist Terry Griffin explains that a recent Kansas Farm Management Association study on farm technologies dispels the...
Texas Cotton Farmer Shares His Thoughts About The ‘Everchanging’ Nature Of Technology
• By Cassidy Nemec •
Todd Westerfeld is not new to the farming industry. He comes from a family farming tradition, including his father and grandfather before him, and...
Results are in for World Ag Expo’s Top-10 New Products Competition, with the winners being showcased Feb. 11-13, 2020, during the World Ag Expo in Tulare, California.
Exhibitors submitted new products for judging by a panel comprising farmers, ranchers and...
I am blessed to be a fourth-generation farmer and a second-generation California farmer. My parents, Ted and Deborah Sheely, moved to California from Arizona to farm cotton in California’s Central Valley in the 1970s.
We are south of Fresno and...
New Web-Based Tool Analyzes Aerial Data And Imagery
Adama Eagle Eye powered by Agremo offers an advanced analysis of aerial data and imagery that helps growers protect yields more efficiently through user-friendly maps, statistics and other tools.
Insights from this web-based...
Within a few years, California farmers will have to pay $15 an hour minimum wage and time-and-a-half overtime for anything over eight hours under new regulations. That is, if they can even find reliable workers.
A number of producers have...
Emerging Leaders Program Participants Selected
Thirteen U.S. cotton industry members have been chosen for the National Cotton Council’s 2019-2020 Emerging Leaders Program.
Representing the industry’s seven segments are: Producers – Philip Edwards III, Smithfield, Virginia; Jaclyn Ford, Alapaha, Georgia; Ben Good,...
Technology is a tool that when paired with know-how can change our lives for the better. Over the past century, technology has revolutionized cotton farming. The list is extensive, but this issue of Cotton Farming talks about a few...
Round Bales, Ginning Technology And A Positive Outlook For Cotton
By Carroll Smith
Editor
As one of the seven cotton industry segments, ginners follow producers in the chain that ultimately leads to the textile manufacturer. Once cotton is harvested, it is...
“The UAS (‘Drone’) Rules Are Here” is authored by Tiffany Dowell Lashmet, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service specialist in Amarillo and nationally recognized author of the Texas Agriculture Law Blog. Lashmet provides a summary of the long-awaited Federal Aviation...
The West and the Southwest are areas of the Cotton Belt that typically experience water shortages. Instead of giving up on trying to irrigate their crops, cotton farmers have adopted systems to make the most of the water that they have.
“California is the only state that has to rely fully on irrigation to meet crop water needs,” says Bob Hutmacher, University of California Extension cotton specialist. “We are growing cotton in a dry environment with essentially no chance of rainfall during most of our cotton-growing season. Arizona growers may get growing-season water from monsoon rains, but there is little chance of that for most California producers.
“In the past, when we had more consistent, favorable water supplies, better quality water, and weren’t competing as much with permanent crops, furrow irrigation was a typical system used by cotton farmers. Today, we still have large acreages of level basin irrigation – a type of border system – on land well suited for it, such as the finer-textured lake bottom land in the San Joaquin Valley. For these specific soil types, soil characteristics allow this ground to be irrigated quite efficiently at low costs with the level basin system.”
We hear about “big data” all the time. All kinds of claims about data are made by all kinds of people. “Data makes our lives better and cheaper.” Or “data is the end of the world,” some say. “Data...
By Carroll Smith
Editor
Matt and Sherrie Miles come from multi-generational Arkansas cotton families. Although cotton is in their blood, they farmed only 180 acres last year. In 2016, they embraced the crop once again by planting 3,300 acres. “Cotton...
Drones are a hot topic in many circles, including the agricultural industry. However, as often happens, the law has fallen behind the technology leading many people to question (or incorrectly assume they understand) how private property rights and the use of commercial drones will co-exist. This blog series will focus on the law potentially applicable in situations where drones fly over the property of another without permission. “If a drone is flying over my property, it is trespassing and I can shoot it down.” I’ve heard this statement made several times over the last few months, and it makes me cringe. First, as will be discussed in detail below, a drone flying over one’s property may not, in fact, be trespassing. Likewise, as we will discuss in Part II of this series, there are a number of drone uses that are permitted by law in Texas. Second, additional legal concerns may exist in situations where a person shoots down a drone. Because drones used for commercial purposes will soon be governed by the FAA (to read a blog post on the proposed regulations, click here), shooting down a drone could be seen as be akin to shooting down an airplane, as both are governed by the FAA, and could result in serious consequences, including terrorism charges. Another potential claim that could be brought by a drone owner is destruction of private property. A lawsuit has been filed by a drone operator whose drone was shot down in Kentucky, seeking a ruling that drones flying in public airspace may not be shot down and compensation when they are shot. [Read article here.] Also, keep in mind that various laws regarding shooting firearms could apply. For example, it may be illegal to discharge a firearm in a person’s back yard if he or she lives in an urban area.
