Water

California’s drought and environmental water reallocations  take a chronic toll on cotton. By Vicky Boyd Managing Editor Ever since he was 3 years old, Chad Crivelli — a diversified row-crop producer near Dos Palos, Calif. — has wanted to be a farmer....

ARIZONA The outlook on cotton prices for the 2016 season still remains less than exciting. The saving grace for cotton may be that other commodity prices are not significantly better. This economic scenario requires that each input be scrutinized for...

MISSOURI Missouri producers made it through the 2015 season with near record yields, so there is a lot to be thankful for. Although we didn’t have optimum climatic conditions, we were fortunate to have had had an overall favorable growing...

Cotton Incorporated has released an executive summary report on the Natural Resources Survey that was conducted in late spring and early summer 2015. Results indicate the No. 1 concern of growers across the Cotton Belt is input costs, but...

ARIZONA There are many decisions made by a grower over the course of a cotton-growing season, but few have as significant and lasting impact on the final outcome of the crop than variety selection. This is a decision that will...

The National Cotton Council recently seized an opportunity to tell a key Congressional panel about the dire economic and regulatory challenges facing the U.S. cotton industry. What was the venue? The early December hearing was conducted by the House Agriculture Committee’s General Farm Commodities and Risk Management Subcommittee. Testifying were: NCC Vice Chairman Shane Stephens, a Greenwood, Miss., warehouser; NCC Producer Directors Shawn Holladay, Lubbock, Texas; and Cannon Michael, Los Banos, Calif.; and two other producer leaders: Kent Wannamaker, president, Southern Cotton Growers, Saint Matthews, S.C.; and Nathan Reed, Arkansas state chairman, American Cotton Producers, Marianna. They were joined by Mike Wright, executive vice president, Agricultural Lending for City Bank, Lubbock. Where do the challenges lie? Vice Chairman Stephens detailed the current economic conditions characterized by reduced acreage, struggling cotton demand and the lowest prices since 1989. Providing an agricultural lender perspective, Wright painted a bleak picture for the Subcommittee saying that with margins getting tighter every year due to higher production costs and lower commodity prices – producers need above-average yields just to break even. There is no doubt, he stated, that some cotton farmers will not qualify for financing next year, and the ability to obtain financing will become increasingly more difficult as crop prices remain low. Wright’s testimony was reinforced by Reed who testified that production costs in the Mid-South have risen continually over the past decade and he feared that region is at a tipping point. Reed cautioned that once the infrastructure of gins, warehouses and related businesses are gone, they are not likely to return.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack reminds farmers and ranchers that the next general enrollment period for the Conservation Reserve Program ends on Feb. 26, 2016. Also, December 2015 marks the 30th anniversary of CRP, a federally funded program that assists...

Once the harvest machinery has been parked, most farmers and consultants like to enjoy a little downtime and recreational activities. But before long, it’s time to start thinking about the next season in order to be properly prepared. Most consultants schedule sessions with their farmer clients during the winter to begin this process since there is a lot of information to disseminate. The hot topic for everyone is how to protect and grow the bottom line in light of low commodity prices. In California, water availability still drives many of the decisions that cotton farmers have to make. For example, California pest control adviser Larry Gallian, whose consulting career spans more than half a century, says “rain-snow-rain-snow-rain” is the plan that California cotton producers are interested in at this time. Gallian says competing crops, the price of cotton and trees being planted daily on agricultural land are some of the factors that are affecting cotton acreage and production decisions out West. In other areas of the Cotton Belt, seasoned cotton consultants Bob Glodt, Bob Griffin and Mark Nemec agreed to share some of their top-of-the-list winter planning topics with Cotton Farming magazine.

Clemson Assists With Flood Recovery, Damage Assessment Scott Miller, writer/editor with Clemson University recently reported that Clemson Extension agents across the state continue to help communities recover from the historic flood and are scouting fields to assess losses to the...

As a fourth generation farmer in South Texas, you could say that I make my living with water. My crops will not grow without it. Our dairy cows will not give milk without enough fresh, clean water. photo Clean Water ActI use what we call “best management practices,” meaning that we comply with label directions, use conservation methods and other tools of modern agriculture. We also plant biotech crops. That means we use fewer and smaller amounts of chemicals than we needed two decades ago. We live on the land. Our children and grandchild drink water from this land. If we did not take care of our resources, including the water, we’d be in serious trouble. It would be bad for our business. Besides, it’s my job to take care of the land. Anything less would be wrong. All people everywhere have a responsibility to take care of the environment. This is especially true of farmers. That’s why it disturbs me some that I, and most other farmers, must oppose the EPA’s recent changes to the Clean Water Act, sometimes referred to as WOTUS. That stands for Waters of the United States. Good regulations for agriculture protect the environment, delivering benefits that outweigh the costs. It will regulate ditches and low spots in the field. Our analysis says farmers might have to obtain permits for the most routine of farming practices. The new Clean Water Rule does not come close to that.

ARKANSAS The National Agricultural Statistics Service October Crop Production report kept the yield estimate for Arkansas cotton at 1,218 lbs lint/A. Last month, I felt this estimate was too high for a number of reasons. However, as our harvest is...

Ken Legé PhytoGen Cotton Development Specialist Lubbock, Texas   Prior to joining PhytoGen, I had noticed that the germplasm coming out of PhytoGen’s robust West Texas breeding program that will serve the entire Southwest was producing high, consistent yields and was well suited...

Even though some cotton varieties have natural drought tolerance built in, weather patterns of erratic rainfall and predictions of increased competition for water resources in the future are of concern to the entire cotton-growing community. Last year, Cotton Incorporated...

Business owners around the country have joined with farmers and ranchers in speaking out on the Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule. More than 30 states also oppose the rule. Yet, even in the face of mounting opposition, the...

An unusually warm, dry January slowed snowpack accumulation in much of the West, according to data from the second 2015 forecast by the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Water and Climate Center (NWCC). California, Arizona and New Mexico, as well as parts of Colorado, Utah, Oregon and Nevada, remain in prolonged drought. “January is usually a big month for snowpack accumulation,” NWCC hydrologist Cara McCarthy says. “But most of the West didn’t see significant gains this month. With isolated exceptions, only Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Montana received near average precipitation last month.” “This is as low a snowpack as I’ve seen across the Sierra Nevada and Cascades for many locations at this time of year,” he says. Several Snow Telemetry (SNOTEL) sites in those ranges are snowless, which is very unusual for this time of year. Even the precipitation in the Southwest wasn’t enough to take these regions out of drought conditions.