Cotton’s Agenda

Gary Adams

Addressing A Disrupted Supply Chain

For the past several months, the National Cotton Council has conveyed to the Administration serious concerns over ocean carrier/terminal practices at our ports that are negatively affecting U.S. cotton flow.

What has been requested?

■ Early in the year, the NCC joined other groups on recommendations for the three major freight transportation modes to President Biden and later to Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. Regarding ocean shipping, which had changed vastly, the groups expressed their strong support of the Federal Maritime Commission’s investigation of ocean carrier/terminal supply chain disrupting practices at U.S. ports. Among those were making containers unavailable to carry agricultural export cargo and canceling or refusing export container bookings. We emphasized that these maneuvers were increasing U.S. agricultural exporters’ costs and causing lost export opportunities.

The NCC continues to engage with the U.S. government to restore the timely and affordable shipping of U.S. raw cotton, yarn, fabric and finished products.

After the situation worsened, the NCC joined nearly 300 agriculture and forest products companies/associations in requesting the Transportation Department’s immediate intervention to protect U.S. exporters and their access to foreign markets. That’s because these vessel-operating common carriers were neglecting to provide timely notice to shippers of carrier arrival/departure times and cargo loading times. They then imposed hundreds of millions of dollars of punitive charges when the shippers missed those “loading windows.” These charges already had been determined to be unreasonable by the Maritime Commission.

The groups pointed out that these carriers specifically were delivering massive volumes of imported shipments to U.S. ports and then electing to leave without refilling empty containers with American goods and products. Shipping containers filled with imported goods are normally unloaded, sent to rural areas, filled with agricultural commodities and then shipped abroad. However, the lucrative freight rates paid by the import cargo, combined with congestion and delay at ports on the West and East coasts were leading the carriers to immediately return empty containers to their overseas ports of origin. As such, we urged the Transportation Department to assist the Maritime Commission in expediting its enforcement options and consider its existing authorities to determine how it could assist with the transportation needs of the U.S. exporters and the farmers and ranchers they serve.

Any other actions?

■ In a briefing to the Maritime Commission, the groups emphasized the importance of trade, especially to Asian markets, and noted the use of forward contracts necessitated timely shipping. A letter to President Biden regarding the carrier/marine terminal operator actions stated that unless the Shipping Act and other tools available to our government are applied promptly, U.S. agriculture will continue to suffer financial losses and will be noncompetitive for years to come. Nearly 100% of U.S. cotton production is exported as either raw fiber, yarn, fabric or finished product. Those exports were valued at $11 billion in 2019, the latest data available. While the NCC’s export promotions arm, Cotton Council International, has and continues to work aggressively and creatively to expand foreign demand for U.S. cotton fiber and cotton textile products, the NCC will keep engaging with the U.S. government to restore the timely and affordable shipping of those products.

Competitive Bidding Pushes Land Prices Higher

Interest in purchasing agricultural land has grown since a coronavirus pandemic-induced slowdown blanketed the land market last spring, according to Farmers National Co. Producers are feeling more financially secure as strong commodity prices arrived on top of large government payments in 2020. This is propelling farmers to bid more aggressively for additional land than has been the case during the past six years. “Farmland sales prices are up 5% to 15% in the past six months with most of the increase coming since the first of the year,” says Randy Dickhut, senior vice president of real estate operations at Farmers National Co. “Competitive bidding among interested buyers is really pushing land prices right now.”

Individual investors, both first-time and experienced buyers, are stepping into the land market as they search for a safe, longterm real estate investment in a low interest rate environment. Investor buyers seldom outbid farmer buyers for a good farm unless they have 1031 tax-deferred exchange funds to spend in a short time.

Bidding And Listing Platforms

Currently, the demand for good farmland is outstripping the supply of farms for sale. During the previous few years, the number of farms for sale has been lower, but there remained enough demand in the farmland market to balance the lower supply, resulting in steady land prices. Currently, the strong demand to own farmland is one of the main factors pushing prices higher.

“For the seller to get top dollar in the current land market, they have to ensure there is true competitive bidding,” Dickhut says. “Farmers National Co. and its agents employ the most comprehensive platform of competitive bidding systems available to get the best price for sellers, including public outcry auctions, a full array of online and simultaneous live auctions, various written bidding mechanisms, and other bidding or listing platforms.”

Consider Potential Taxes

Higher land values will bring more sellers into the market as estates, trusts, recent inheritors and family groups decide to sell the farm or ranch and capture the higher prices. Also, uncertainty surrounding future tax policies will trigger a sale sooner than later for some. Landowners who are thinking of selling their farm are now factoring in both the higher proceeds they would get from the sale and what potential tax obligations might be due.

The land market will be balancing increased demand for good cropland against what might be an increasing supply of farms for sale. In a rising land market, it becomes more difficult to predict what a farm will sell for on any given day especially when there is demand from both farmers and investors, Dickhut says.

“The best way to sell cropland in the current market is to take it to auction or some form of competitive bidding that brings together the potential buyers and lets them push the price.”

More Buyers Than Sellers

Buyers are actively pushing land prices in the Central and Southern Plains (Arkansas, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas) as sales prices in some areas are nearing the highs of the past, according to Farmers National Co.

“We are seeing land prices up 10% to 12% for good cropland in the area,” says Paul Schadegg, area sales manager for the firm.

Prices for dryland farms in the Western Plains are strengthening, too, after a period of low demand.

“There is now more demand for average to lower quality land than there has been for a number of years,” he says.

The current agricultural land market has more buyers than sellers. The inventory of farms for sale is currently at a low point for all land brokers as buyers have been aggressively purchasing what has been listed for sale.

“The prospect for higher commodity prices drives the demand for good cropland in the region. It is making farmers even more bullish to buy farmland,” Schadegg says.

Competitive bidding among potential buyers is delivering the best sales prices to sellers in most areas.

“If you want top dollar in my area, take it to auction and let people bid,” Schadegg says. “Also, buyers are being more aggressive bidding on traditional private treaty listings.”

The expectation is for more farms and ranches to come up for sale as the year moves along due to the higher prices received and potential changes in tax policy.

Farmers National Co. contributed this article.

CCOY

The Cotton Consultant of the Year (CCOY) Award marks more than four decades. The award recognizes a consultant who has made great contributions to the cotton industry through outstanding customer relations, leadership and innovation. It honors a consultant who not only meets these requirements but also exceeds them.

Syngenta and Cotton Farming magazine — CCOY sponsors — are soliciting your help in selecting the 2021 recipient, who will be named at a special celebration Friday, Feb. 25, 2022, at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee.

The winning consultant and the person who nominates the winner receive a two-night hotel stay and airfare to Memphis. The 2021 CCOY recipient also will be featured in a four-page salute in the February 2022 issue of Cotton Farming.

Submit nominations by July 31, 2021.

Mail: Carroll Smith 7201 Eastern Ave. Germantown, TN 38138 Scan/Email: csmith@onegrower.com

You can print an electronic version of the form located on the Cotton Farming website at www.cottonfarming.com.

Nominate online: cottonfarming.com/ccoy

Cotton Consultant of theYear2021

NOMINATION FORM

If you would like to nominate a consultant deserving of this outstanding recognition, please take a moment to fill out the following form.

Please use a separate page for biographical/professional information. Additional recommendations via letters or emails from other farmers, consultants and industry members are also encouraged to provide support for the nominee.

Consultant’s Name: Company Name: Mailing Address: City: Phone: State: Email: Zip:

In your own words, please tell us why you are nominating the consultant above for the Cotton Consultant of the Year Award. Additional pages may be attached, emailed or attached to the online nomination form.

Background:

Biographical/Industry Involvement Background. This information as well as support letters may be attached to this form, emailed or attached to the online nomination form.

Your Name: Mailing Address: City: Phone: State: Email: Zip:

Lee Ott and his daughter, Bailee Ott Snyder, established Lobo Farms in 2018. Last year, they planted ST 4990B3XF and won the Stoneville Legacy Club highest yield in the West region (irrigated) with 2,903 pounds per acre.

Lobo Farms

Father/Daughter Team Rocks Cotton In Arizona

BY CARROLL SMITH

EDITOR

“The dust storms that terrorized America’s High Plains in the darkest years of the Depression were like nothing ever seen before. In “The Worst Hard Time,” the Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist and author Timothy Egan tells the epic story of this environmental disaster and its impact on the community stricken with fear and choked by dust in the ‘dirty thirties,’” says the teaser on the back cover of the book.

“In parts of Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas, it seemed on many days as if a curtain were being drawn across a vast stage at world’s end,” Egan wrote. “The land convulsed in a way that had never been seen before, and it did so at a time when one out of every four adults was out of work.”

During an interview in 2014 with the Arizona Farm Bureau, cotton farmer Lee Ott recalled the circumstances under which his family left the High Plains and relocated to the Copper State.

“I am a fourth-generation farmer in Yuma County,” Lee says. “My great grandfather came here from Oklahoma during the Great Depression. They were on their way to California to pick fruit when the car broke down in Yuma. They stayed here, living under a billboard sign and found work picking cotton by hand. Eventually, they homesteaded in the North Gila Valley where they began farming 60 acres, doing custom hay work and also working in the mines.”

The decision to escape the Dust Bowl and move out West turned out to be a good one for the Ott family. Lee and his brother, Larry, currently farm about 6,800 acres, which includes 1,000 acres of cotton, across Yuma County and the Bard area of California. In addition to the Gila Valley Farms operation, Lee

also is in partnership with his daughter, Bailee Ott Snyder, on Lobo Farms where they grow cotton, lemons and alfalfa.

“When Bailee was a little girl, my wife, Candy, worked fulltime and Bailee was enrolled in daycare,” Lee says. “She absolutely hated it, so I had to pick her up every day about midmorning so she could spend the rest of the day on the farm. Eventually, she was unenrolled from daycare and went to work with me instead.”

“I enjoyed riding my tricycle around the shop while my dad worked on equipment much more than I enjoyed being at daycare!” Bailee says. “Sitting in the tractor all day with my dad cultivating cotton and driving around checking fields for water are some of my earliest childhood memories.”

Lobo Farms Established

The young Arizonan describes herself as “a very busy kid growing up” who was instilled with a strong work ethic at a young age.

“I began farming on my own when I was in high school as part of my Supervised Agricultural Experience for FFA,” Bailee says. “I started with 36 acres of wheat and shortly after expanded my operation to include some alfalfa. Starting my own farming operation helped me win my FFA chapter’s Star Farmer Degree, which is awarded to the chapter member who has an outstanding SAE in production agriculture.”

After graduating from the University of Arizona in 2017, Bailee expressed an interest in farming again.

“I asked my dad if he would teach me about farming cotton,” she says. “As an only child, I felt it was important for me to learn this trade from him. In 2018, we decided to partner up and registered Lobo Farms, which is in Yuma County as an LLC. The name is short for Lee Ott and Bailee Ott.”

Because Yuma County is situated on the Colorado River, Lee and Bailee say Lobo Farms is blessed to have an available water source, as of now.

“While all our cotton is flood irrigated, we take as many measures as possible to conserve our precious water,” she says.

Balancing Careers

Bailee, who holds a degree in agricultural technology and systems management, is also in her fourth year as a pest control adviser for Wilbur-Ellis Co. in Yuma, Arizona, and the surrounding area.

“As a PCA, I specialize in pest and disease management and make recommendations to growers on ways to control and/ or treat issues related to pests and diseases,” she says. “I scout a wide range of crops and am involved in fertilizer sales. The crops I am responsible for include cotton, lettuce, romaine, broccoli (organic and conventional), cauliflower, spinach, spring mix, wheat, alfalfa and some seed crops.

“I believe being directly involved with production agriculture helps me to be a better PCA and vice versa. On one hand, being a PCA helps me understand the importance of fertilizer applications and being aggressive with pest control. On the other hand, being a grower means I must understand budgets and keep an eye on costs. Both roles are equally important as I

In 1997, Bailee poses with her father, Lee Ott, and her mother, Candy Ott, in an Arizona cotton eld.

Lobo Farms is ood irrigated through a series of ditches and canals like this one in Yuma County, Arizona, that are fed by the Colorado River.

balance being a PCA as well as a cotton grower.”

Bailee’s husband, Jake Snyder, who is a PCA for another company, is also involved with Lobo Farms. He spends his time after work and on the weekends helping with the tractors, irrigating, controlling weeds, and lending a hand with fertilizer applications or anything else that may be needed.

“Jake plays a vital role in making sure everything gets done in an efficient manner,” she says. “My mom, Candy, who comes from three farming generations, assists us with the bookwork and brings lunch to the field during our busy time.”

Outstanding Cotton Yields

Lee says 2020 was “the best cotton year we’ve ever had as far as yields go. We had favorable weather conditions and heat units for almost the entire season.”

Two varieties that performed particularly well last year on Lobo Farms were ST4990 B3XF and NexGen 5711 B3XF. When asked what she thought contributed to the exceptionally high yields, Bailee offered this theory.

“In the past few years, we have focused more attention on our fertilizer inputs,” she says. “As a PCA, I have learned the importance of using fertilizer blends and maintaining proper timing to apply different types of fertilizer, depending on the growth stage of the plant. I believe an aggressive fertilizer program plays a huge role in a high-yielding crop.”

In 2020, Lobo Farms was recognized as the Stoneville Legacy Club highest yield winner in the West region in the irrigated division with 2,903 pounds per acre. According to BASF, the club “honors cotton growers across the entire Cotton Belt who pair the high-caliber performance and premium quality of Stoneville cotton with their own skills to maximize yields.”

“We planted ST 4990B3XF on our winning cotton block,” Bailee says. “It was a great fit in our operation and exceeded all our expectations.”

Lee agrees.

“This was the highest yielding cotton block I have ever farmed,” he says. “A typical yield for us is usually around 3.3 to 3.5 bales per acre.”

Another variety that finished with an excellent yield on Lobo Farms last year was NexGen 5711 B3XF at 4.6 bales per acre.

“The cotton on Lobo Farms is grown in a different area of the Gila Valley where produce isn’t grown because the soil is so sandy,” Bailee says. “This means we can let the cotton season go longer there versus ground that gets rotated into produce. We picked the 5711cotton in December, so it had a much longer growing period than our other cotton blocks.”

This year, the father/daughter team is growing ST 4990B3XF, NexGen 5711 B3XF and ST 4550GLTP on Lobo Farms with the hope that the current season will be as successful as the one they experienced in 2020.

A Satisfying Way Of Life

When asked what inspires them to get up every day and give it their best, both Lee and Bailee expressed a love for farming and its lifestyle.

“Every day comes with different hurdles and challenges to overcome,” Lee says. “I like having the freedom to work outside and be my own boss.”

Bailee, who showed cattle from the age of 9 to 19, began driving a tractor at 14 and started farming on her own at 17, was “a very busy kid with a strong work ethic.” But she insists she wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Needless to say, I really don’t know anything different other than maintaining a pretty active schedule that I enjoy.”

is block of lemons is 1 ½ years old and typically will start producing fruit between the fourth and h years.

All the cotton on Lobo Farms is ginned at YUCO Gin in Yuma, Arizona. In 2020, this eld of NexGen 5711 B3XF was harvested in December on ground that was not rotated into produce. It yielded 4.6 bales per acre.

Walter Francis Little, Jr.

Walter Francis Little, Jr., 93, of Germantown, TN, passed away on May 20, 2021. He was the son of the late Walter F. Little, Sr. and Josephine Bailey Little of Leland, MS, and Charleston, SC. He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Beverly Cox Little, and son Dr. Walter Little, III, a urologist in Hendersonville, TN, and his wife Dr. Shannon Little; a daughter, Dr. Vicki Little Chandler of Eads, TN, a nurse practitioner and an assistant professor at UTHSC, College of Nursing, and her husband, Stephen W. Chandler; and grandchildren AnMei Little and Jonathan, Matthew, Joshua Chandler. He was preceded in death by his youngest son, Jeffrey Thomas Little. He considered his greatest achievement finding a beautiful, kind wife as a lifelong companion who lovingly nurtured their children.

Mr. Little served in the U.S. Army as enlisted men’s counselor at the close of WWII. He was a 60+ year member of Second Presbyterian Church, Memphis, where he served earlier as an usher and later was on the board of deacons. He was a member of the Jeb Russell Sunday School Class.

His early years were spent in Charleston, SC, where he was an ardent amateur sailor competing in summer regattas, enjoying tennis with friends and hunting in the nearby Santee River Swamp with his father.

Mr. Little was a Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude graduate of Washington & Lee University where he was a member of the Kappa Alpha Order founded at W&L during General Robert E. Lee’s presidency.

Mr. Little started his business career at the Greenville (MS) Delta Democrat-Times under the Pulitzer Prize winning editor, the late Hodding Carter. He resigned to become assistant manager of Delta Council, Stoneville, MS, and then advertising manager of the Yazoo City (MS) Herald.

At 29, he founded Little Publications, Inc., in Memphis and pioneered the publishing of national specialty magazines for agriculture, including Cotton Farming, Rice Farming, Soybean South and Custom Applicator. The publications were sold at his retirement and are still being successfully published today with offices in Memphis. He was a former director on the board of the National Agri-Marketing Association, Chicago, and the past-president of its Mid-South chapter.

Founder Reflects On Magazine’s Rich History

Publisher’s note: In January 2007, Cotton Farming magazine celebrated 50 years of bringing profitable production strategies to U.S. cotton farmers. The Golden Anniversary was commemorated by publishing a special issue dedicated to an industry that is steeped in tradition, has seen a lot of changes, faced many challenges and yet continues to move forward. As the founder of Cotton Farming, Walter Little wrote a letter to its readers in which he recalls some of the highlights through those 50 years from his perspective.

Dear Reader:

Since we spend our lives working, a wise man once told me to find something enjoyable. I followed that advice (my father’s) by founding Cotton Farming magazine 50 years ago. I didn’t find it enjoyable...it was plain fun.

Some of the reasons were the many, many producers and farm leaders like you that I met over the years in traveling from California to the Carolinas. I’ve long suspected that you are a self-sufficient happy lot, enjoying the outdoor life and the inside coffee shop talk with fellow farmers — in between the grumbling about prices and weather. As pubished in Cotton Farming Speaking of prices, when magazine January 2007 Cotton Farming started, the cotton picker on my father’s Mississippi place cost a fraction of what it costs today. Fuel was 19 cents a gallon. And cotton was bringing 30 cents a pound.

Speaking of weather, not all of it was fair. In many areas, 1957, our first year, saw a bumper crop turn into disaster. 14.3 million acres were planted, but steady rains started before harvest and extended into December. The end result: only 10.9 million bales were harvested. Perhaps that was one of the reasons a Memphis businessman greeted me with skepticism when I was introduced as a youngster from the country starting a magazine for cotton. With a rather disconcerting laugh, he said, “Isn’t that like starting a BLACKSMITH JOURNAL? In a year or two, nobody will be planting cotton!” Fortunately, all of you proved him wrong. Cotton production now is about twice what it was in 1957, and this year’s crop is being produced on almost the same acreage that was planted back then. Contributors to cotton’s longevity on farms east and ranches west include: experiment stations, Extension service, consultants, National Cotton Council and continuing innovations in seed, equipment and chemicals.

Way back, there was one selective herbicide and “incorporation” referred only to companies. I recall an early visit on an oldtimer’s Texas place. He challenged the intelligence of the weed killer he would not use: “Don’t you try to tell me that stuff knows the difference between my cotton and all those weeds!” In the field of education and spreading the information that modern producers need to survive, I believe that Cotton Farming and its dedicated staff have played a vital part. Our editors find visiting farmers for articles very rewarding. You producers are hospitable, ready to share secrets of success and generous with your time.

Cotton Farming continues to improve with age. To assure its continuing commitment to service, Tommy Horton is the editor. He was brought on board nearly eight years ago from the National Cotton Council’s Communications Services department. Carroll Headley Smith, the senior writer for the magazine, previously worked for Cotton Farming in the 1980s and early 1990s and wrote the first article on a woman cotton producer many years ago. Amanda Huber, who resides in Bronson, Fla., covers cotton production in the Southeast while also serving as editor of Peanut Grower, a sister publication of Cotton Farming. CarolWatson, our talented graphic artist, has redesigned and improved the covers to set industry trends. Another staffer with valuable experience is Kathy Killingsworth, who handles many difficult details as production manager. Janet Owens, circulation manager, successfully makes sure cotton producers everywhere are blanketed by the magazine. Debbie Guthrie, our sales manager based in Tifton, Ga., brings many years of experience as she calls on important regional accounts throughout the Belt.

Just recently, Cotton Farming grew even stronger under new joint owners. One — Mike Lamensdorf — is a successful cotton producer from a longtime Delta cotton farming family. He knows firsthand of what he speaks. The other owner is Lia Guthrie, a seasoned staffer known and respected throughout the industry. She’s a Mississippi farmer’s daughter. So, very real cotton industry ties continue in charge of your magazine. I’m pleased — and just a bit envious. Cotton Farming has come a long way and is stronger and better for it. May it keep on serving for another successful 50 years.