Cotton Farming October 2019

Cotton Farming ONE GROWER PUBLISHING, LLC

PROFITABLE PRODUCTION STRATEGIES

OCTOBER 2019

www.cottonfarming.com

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Give Your Soils A Health Check-Up

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Café Du Monde Chooses Cottonseed Oil

A Year Of Learning Multidisciplinary Teams Studying Cotton Leaf Roll Dwarf Virus

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Vol. 63 No. 10

Cotton Farming PROFITABLE PRODUCTION STRATEGIES

OCTOBER 2019

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F E AT U R E S

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SOIL HEALTH CHECK-UP

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PART OF THE RECIPE

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GINNING MARKETPLACE

A three-year California demonstration project looks at cover crops as a prescription for ailing soils.

The iconic Café Du Monde in New Orleans, Louisiana, only fries their beignets in cottonseed oil to maintain a quality product.

the official publication of the ginning industry

Dusty Findley, CEO of the Southeastern Cotton Ginners Association, discusses what the H-2A program is and when to use it.

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Year Of Learning

Multidisciplinary teams of cotton researchers throughout the Cotton Belt are working diligently to learn more about the new disease that has garnered everyone’s attention.

Although it was possibly in growers’ fields a year or two prior, researchers identified and confirmed cotton leaf roll dwarf virus two years ago.

WEB EXCLUSIVE Texas Tech University professor Seshadri Ramkumar reports on a recent meeting in Lubbock where people involved in the cotton sector talked about what is going on in the cotton market. Focus points included demand, the ongoing trade war with China and the global economic scenario. Go to www.cottonfarming.com for this Web Exclusive report.

DEPARTMENTS & COLUMNS

4 Editor’s Note 14 Specialists Speaking 6 Cotton’s Agenda 16 Industry News 12 Research & Promotion 22 My Turn ON THE COVER: Clemson University nematologist Dr. John Mueller shows the correct way to sample for nematodes during the fall. Cover photo by Carroll Smith.

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COTTON FARMING (ISSN 0746-8385) is published monthly January through December by One Grower Publishing LLC, 875 W. Poplar Ave., Suite 23, Box 305, Collierville, TN 38017. Periodicals postage paid at Memphis, Tenn. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Omeda Communications, Customer Service Department, P.O. Box 1388, Northbrook, IL 60065-1388 (Phone: 847-559-7578) (Fax: 847-564-9453). Annual subscriptions are $40. International rates are $55 in Canada/Mexico, $90 in all other countries for air-speeded delivery. Surface delivery not available due to problems in reliability.

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OCTOBER 2019 | COTTON FARMING

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Editor’s Note

Cotton Farming

Carroll Smith

EDITORIAL/PRODUCTION Editor Carroll Smith csmith@onegrower.com Managing Editor Vicky Boyd vlboyd@onegrower.com

S

Revisiting A Special Sense Of Place

hared memories from our past are the links of an invisible chain that create a sense of place and a permanent bond among those who experienced a common geography.

I belong to a Facebook group made up of folks from my hometown. In the summer of 2018, someone asked who remembered the pecan grove — a serene, magical area where the trees on either side of the twolane highway formed a tunnel-like canopy through which everyone drove on their way to the lake. Although there are conflicting accounts about why the trees were eventually cut back, their majesty and mystery live on in our mind’s eye. The post drew comments from people of all ages who reminisced about that beautiful drive.

Cotton fields stretched out across the landscape on either side of the pecan grove. They began on the left as you passed the old John Deere store and reappeared as you made the sharp curve to the right upon exiting the orchard. Since science says smell — as well as sight — triggers memories, the strong scent of defoliants prevalent in the fall “back in the day” always made me think of that particular stretch of road.

But just like the beautiful canopy that disappeared with pruning, the pungent aroma went away as new odorless harvest aids came on the market and farmers reduced rates on their second shot of odoriferous phosphates. With that loss of sight and smell, my memories of the iconic stretch of highway do not pop up as frequently as they used to. And so we keep them alive via social media with those who can still make the connection.

Sharing a sense of places past is nostalgic, but creating new memories is exciting, too. The fields are still there, and today — with the help of visionaries and new technology — show off a crop of high-yielding, high-quality cotton to passersby headed to the lake. The distinctive “harvest time smell” has been replaced by the sound of large, efficient pickers gathering the crop for its journey to the gin.

And one day those who now make the trek listening to the powerful machines running across the fields will remind one another of how the cotton looked like a snowy field even on a warm, autumn day.

Carroll If you have comments, please send them to: Cotton Farming Magazine, 7201 Eastern Ave., Germantown, TN, 38138. Contact Carroll Smith via email at csmith@onegrower.com.

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COTTON FARMING | OCTOBER 2019

Southeast Editor Amanda Huber ahuber@onegrower.com Art Director Ashley Kumpe ADMINISTRATION Publisher/Vice President Lia Guthrie (901) 497-3689 lguthrie@onegrower.com Associate Publisher Carroll Smith (901) 326-4443 Sales Manager Scott Emerson (386) 462-1532 semerson@onegrower.com Production Manager Kathy Killingsworth (901) 767-4020 kkillingsworth@onegrower.com Audience Services Kate Thomas (847) 559-7514 For circulation changes or change of address, call (847) 559-7578 or email cottonfarming@omeda.com EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD David Burns – North Carolina David Lynch – South Carolina Bob McLendon – Georgia Larkin Martin – Alabama Mike Sturdivant Jr. – Mississippi Charles Parker – Missouri Jimmy Hargett – Tennessee Allen Helms – Arkansas Jay Hardwick – Louisiana Ronnie Hopper – Texas Ron Rayner – Arizona John Pucheu – California

ONE GROWER PUBLISHING, LLC Mike Lamensdorf President/Treasurer Lia Guthrie Publisher/Vice President ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COOPERATION: Cooperating with COTTON FARMING are various cotton producer organizations across the Cotton Belt. Many representatives of producer organizations serve on COTTON FARMING’s editorial advisory board. Opinions expressed and conclusions reached by contributors are not necessarily those of the cooperating organizations or the editors.

All statements, including product claims, are those of the person or organization making the statement or claim. The publisher does not adopt any such statement or claims as its own and any such statement or claim does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the publisher.

Copyright 2019 © ASSOCIATED PUBLICATIONS – One Grower Publishing, LLC also publishes RICE FARMING, THE PEANUT GROWER, SOYBEAN SOUTH and CORN SOUTH.

One Grower Publishing, LLC 875 W. Poplar Ave., Suite 23, Box 305, Collierville, TN 38017 Phone: 901-767-4020

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Cotton’s Agenda Gary Adams

A Reputation At Stake The National Cotton Council’s Board of Directors has taken a timely position regarding reclass procedures for bales contaminated with plastics.

Is this a real concern? n Yes. To maintain U.S. cotton’s reputation, the industry remains steadfast in eliminating plastic contamination from lint. However, the frequency of 71/72 plastic calls in U.S. cotton bales by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agriculture Marketing Service continues to increase. The rapid increase in spot market discounts reinforces the unmarketability of 71/72 bales with our textile customers. The 2019 crop loan schedule discounts for plastic are -510 points for 71 calls and -775 points for 72 calls.

However, the current spot quotation for both 71 and 72 calls is -4000 points. These larger market discounts will translate into much larger discounts in the loan schedule in the upcoming years.

How is the NCC addressing the situation? n Earlier this year, the NCC’s Quality Task Force appointed a lint contamination subcommittee. Along with other industry leaders, it assessed the market implications of plastic contamination in bales with a 71/72 call, as well as options regarding the classing/reclassing of bales with a 71/72 call.

The NCC’s Board recently voted to accept the QTF’s recommendation and adopted the following position: “Due to the negative impact of The NCC recommends that producers and ginners plastic contamrefrain from reclassing 2019 crop bales designated ination on the solely as 71 or 72. marketing of U.S. cotton in the global and domestic market, it is recommended that beginning with the 2020 crop, any U.S. bale designated as 71 or 72, either during the initial classification or upon reclassification, retain that designation.

Further, to promote lint quality transparency and stewardship, it is recommended that producers and ginners refrain from reclassing 2019 crop bales designated solely as 71 or 72.”

Subsequently, a letter about these recommendations was sent from NCC Chairman Mike Tate to the NCC’s ginner and producer members. The letter was co-signed by the American Cotton Producers, National Cotton Ginners Association, American Cotton Shippers Association, Amcot — America’s Cotton Marketing Cooperatives, National Council of Textile Organizations, Supima, Cotton Growers Warehouse Association, Cotton Warehouse Association of America, National Cottonseed Products Association, and the Cottonseed and Feed Association.

The letter stated that these recommendations are expected to be adopted and incorporated into USDA-AMS policy beginning with the 2020 crop. It is important to note that the NCC recommendations are intended to apply solely to reclassing on bales containing plastic and not to any other quality factors.

Currently, the classing system allows for a reclass of a bale by drawing a new sample and submitting it to the classing office. The new classing data overwrites the original class and, with the exception of denoting that the bale was reclassed, the record does not indicate why the bale was reclassed. Tate’s letter also emphasized that “the ability for 71/72 calls to be overturned by reclass has been a major concern of the industry. All gins and warehouses are urged to remind their licensed samplers that it is imperative not to tamper with drawn samples.”

The letter states that addressing plastic contamination is a joint stewardship responsibility of producers and ginners. Resources for lint and seed cotton contamination prevention are available on the NCC’s website at http://www.cotton. org/tech/quality/contamfree.cfm.

Gary Adams is president/CEO of the National Cotton Council of America. He and other NCC leaders contribute columns on this Cotton Farming page.

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COTTON FARMING | OCTOBER 2019

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DR. JUDITH K. BROWN/UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

COVER STORY

This cotton plant exhibits symptoms of cotton leaf roll dwarf virus.

A Year Of Learning Multidisciplinary Teams From Several Cotton States Work To Learn More About Cotton Leaf Roll Dwarf Virus

BY AMANDA HUBER SOUTHEAST EDITOR

T

eams of cotton researchers throughout the Cotton Belt are working diligently to learn more about the new disease that has garnered everyone’s attention. Although it was possibly in growers’ fields a year or two prior, researchers identified and confirmed cotton leaf roll dwarf virus two years ago.

Jenny Koebernick, cotton-soybean breeder, Auburn University, says, “In 2017, there were some plants down in Southern Alabama that looked suspicious, so we tested them and it came back as cotton leaf roll dwarf virus, a well-known problem in Brazil that is also called cotton blue disease.”

The virus showed up again in 2018 in Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi and South Carolina. It has

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COTTON FARMING | OCTOBER 2019

since been confirmed in Tennessee and Louisiana.

“Cotton leaf roll dwarf virus is transmitted by cotton aphid, which makes it problematic,” Koebernick says. “We immediately developed a multi-disciplinary team to look into CLRDV.” Looking For Resistance In 2019, the team from Auburn and the Alabama Cooperative Extension planted 1,000 different cotton lines both at the E.V. Smith Research Center in Shorter, Alabama, and at the Gulf Coast Research and Extension Center in Fairhope, Alabama.

“From a breeding perspective, in order to breed for something, you have to have material that’s resistant,” COTTONFARMING.COM

Koebernick explains. “I could not just grab two varieties and cross them and hope to find resistance. I have to screen and look for it.

“That’s why we have a field of 1,000 different lines replicated twice. A lot of the germplasm available has never been tested for this virus.”

Untested Germplasm Koebernick says the way it was controlled in Brazil was through the discovery of a couple of lines with resistance, but that was to the typical form of the virus.

“The typical form was found in the ’90s, but by 2006, it had mutated to the atypical form,” she says. “The form we’re finding in the states is more like a sister line to the atypical form. We are testing everything, including Brazilian lines, to see if we can find any resistance to the type we have in the United States.”

No resistance has been found among the 20 most popular cotton lines grown in the United States.

Although it will take time for cotton breeders like Koebernick to screen the germplasm for possible resistance to begin working with, researchers in other disciplines are also working on management areas related to CLRDV, including recognizing the symptomology.

Possible CLRDV Symptoms: ▪ Stunting, blistering or crinkling of leaves ▪ Cupping of leaves ▪ Reddening leaves ▪ Shortened internodes ▪ Abnormal top growth ▪ Leaves may also exhibit a green-blue color Adding To The Confusion, CLRDV May Also Resemble: ▪ Phenoxy herbicide injury ▪ Nutritional deficiency

Few Recommendations For Now While researchers are learning more about the disease, growers are encouraged to watch for it in their cotton fields to educate themselves about the symptomology. After harvest and through the off-season, growers are encouraged to break the “green bridge” through aggressive weed control to reduce potential hosts.

Cotton stalks have also been found to serve as a host for the virus; therefore, disking or using a stalk puller may offer the best opportunities for removal.

Researchers remind growers that the tillage operation must completely kill or remove the cotton plants.

Partially removing the stalk from the soil can still lead to regrowth and a potential host for the virus.

Plan to attend winter and early spring cotton meetings to find out what researchers have learned from their many approaches this season.

TWITTER: @COTTONFARMING

“In spring 2019, we are able to detect the virus in ratoon cotton and regrowth leaves,” says UGA’s Dr. Sudeep Bag. “These cotton stalks need to be removed from the ground/field as soon as harvest is over as a part of field sanitation.”

OCTOBER 2019 | COTTON FARMING

DR. SUDEEP BAG/UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA

Learning The Symptomology Bob Kemerait, University of Georgia Extension plant pathologist, says the early season symptoms of CLRDV appear much like the “bronze wilt” from 20 years ago.

“The early symptomology includes the reddening of leaves and petioles, a drooping and wilted appearance and stunting.”

Kemerait says the affected plants can be quite obvious, especially as the season progresses. “We are now working to identify late-season symptoms as well.”

Sudeep Bag, who is also in the UGA department of plant pathology and specializes in crop virology, is part of the UGA cotton team working to learn more about the disease.

“In early 2019, the virus was found in cotton stalks and regrowth and also in weeds such as henbit and perennial peanut. These plants could potentially maintain the virus through the winter.”

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SPECIAL REPORT

Give Your Soils A Health Check-Up California Project Looks At Cover Crops As A Prescription For Ailing Soils

BY VICKY BOYD MANAGING EDITOR

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COTTON FARMING | OCTOBER 2019

VICKY BOYD

I

n the past few years, the term “healthy soils” has become a widely used buzzword surrounded by a lot of hype.

But the question remains, what are healthy soils? Much like the term “sustainability,” healthy soils mean different things to different people.

Although scientists may use several complex tests to measure soil health, Dr. Jeff Mitchell, a University of California, Davis, cropping systems specialist, says growers can gauge it in their own fields by answering a set of simple questions.

1. Does your soil blow or flow away?

2. Does your soil allow water to soak in quickly?

3. Does your soil drain?

4. Does your soil crust?

5. Does your crop recover most of the nutrients you apply?

6. Are there areas where plants die or grow poorly?

If you answered “yes” to questions 1, 4 and/or 6 and “no” to questions 2, 3 and/or 5, chances are your soil is ailing.

Gary Martin, who grows cotton, alfalfa, pistachios and almonds near Mendota, California, can relate to those questions as one of his cotton fields with sandy soil had problems with reduced water infiltration and soil crusting.

Years ago, Martin incorporate 5 tons of poultry manure per acre annually into the soil, building organic matter and the related water-holding properties.

“It made the soil just wonderful,” he says. “The problem was they found other uses for poultry manure that priced us out of the market and the

University of California’s Jeff Mitchell compares properties of soil from a field with 20 years of cover crops and no till (left) to soil from a conventionally tilled field without cover crops. availability went away.”

Slowly, he saw water infiltration rates decrease and surface crusting increase.

Mitchell approached Martin three years ago about participating in a healthy soils demonstration project that falls under the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Climate Smart Agriculture program.

The research is being funded in part from a $237,000 CDFA grant.

They outlined the project during a recent field day held at Martin’s farm near Mendota. The three-year project will examine several specific items, such as cover crop water requirements, greenhouse gas emissions, water infiltration and soil water holding capacity, and soil organic matter.

The challenge with using cover crops in California is you’re essentially farming in a desert, Mitchell says.

Although cover crops can succeed, he COTTONFARMING.COM

says it’s not as simple as borrowing a system that has worked elsewhere.

rent system was economically sustainable, especially with low cotton prices.

But he says he’s determined to make it work even after the end of the research project. Martin’s already considering installing subsurface drip in the field, which would help deliver water to the plant’s root system.

The drip also would lend itself to maintaining existing beds and cover crops paired with strip till. In addition, he may look at other cover crop blends that are more economical.

Not only is conserving natural resources and improving the soil the right thing to do, but Martin — who also is California chairman of the National Cotton Council’s American Cotton Producers — says buyers are beginning to require it.

Roger Isom, president and CEO of the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Association, says Sacramento lawmakers have bought into the healthy soils program and are encouraging more research.

“If we get more guys trying it, we’ll find out what works and what doesn’t work and what is reality,” he says.

Cover Crops Come At A Cost Between spreading the compost and seeding the cover, he says he invested about $100 per acre, not counting the extra tillage. Without the funding from the demonstration project, Martin says he didn’t believe the cur-

Putting Numbers To The Treatments As part of the California healthy soils project, Geoff Koch, a UC Davis doctoral student, will monitor soil function, greenhouse emissions and yields in both Martin’s field and Mitchell’s long-term trial at the

Twitter: @CottonFarming

VICKY BOYD

Learning Along The Way After harvest and stalk chopping in 2017, Martin started by applying 2 tons of green waste compost per acre to one part of the demonstration field, followed by disking, chiseling and pulling beds. He then drilled 60 pounds per acre of a 95% triticale and 5% radish cover crop blend.

Martin says he ended up with a striped field and about a 60% germination rate as the drill planted the seed too deep on top of the beds.

Shortly before planting, he worked the green cover crop into the beds. He then pre-irrigated as normal before planting his cotton.

The other part of the field was left untreated as the check and managed as he normally would.

After 2018 harvest, Martin applied the same 2 tons of green waste compost per acre on the treated portion, but instead kept the field flat after disking and chiseling. He flew on the seed and had nearly 100% germination.

But the increased plant material also created challenges during the 2019 spring, even after the cover crop was burned down and allowed to “melt down” for three weeks.

“We attempted to pull the beds and there was so much plant material, the beds were uneven and cloddy,” Martin says. “We ended up having to disk and chisel, then used a bed disk to pull the beds. So in the end, we did a lot more tillage to work that in and certainly, that wasn’t our goal. We want to be minimal out there.”

So far, he hasn’t seen any difference in irrigation infiltration rates between the treated and untreated blocks. Later in the summer, when the plants have depleted the soil moisture profile, he still has difficulty replenishing it.

“I think we’ve determined it takes a lot of compost, if that’s what you’re going to do, or it takes a lot of time if you’re going to do cover crops,” Martin says.

Gary Martin, who farms near Mendota, California, (left) discusses his cover crop trial with Joy Hollingsworth, University of California assistant Cooperative Extension adviser.

Westside Field Station near Five Points, California.

For the past 20 years, Mitchell has been comparing four treatments: conventional tillage without covers, conventional tillage with covers, no-till without covers and no-till with covers.

The study started with the region’s traditional rotation of cotton and processing tomatoes and has evolved over the years to include a few of the other traditional rotational crops.

So far, the blocks with cover crops have seen an increase of 37 tons per acre of organic matter and have captured 15 tons of carbon per acre — all with only about 12 inches of water, Mitchell says.

Healthy Soils For Sustainable Cotton Program Earlier this year, the non-profit Soil Health Institute in Morrisville, North Carolina, launched the Healthy Soils for Sustainable Cotton program that features education and training conducted by technical specialists and successful cotton farmers. This season, an initial pilot program includes producers in Arkansas, Georgia and North Carolina. It will expand to Mississippi, Texas and California in 2020.

The program is being underwritten by Wrangler brand, the VF Corp. Foundation and the Walmart Foundation.

OCTOBER 2019 | COTTON FARMING

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RESEARCH & PROMOTION

Cottonseed Oil Is Part Of The Recipe At Café Du Monde

BY STACEY GORMAN DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS, THE COTTON BOARD

S

itting in a bustling café at dawn as the city of New Orleans wakes up from its all-night festivities can only mean you’re at Café du Monde.

This is one of the world’s most famous coffee shops and a New Orleans institution. Sipping a stout chicory coffee or creamy café au lait while watching the servers hustle plates filled with powdered sugar-dusted hot beignets has been one of the quintessential New Orleans experiences for more than 150 years.

The original Café Du Monde Coffee Stand was established in 1862 in the New Orleans French Market. The café is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It closes only on Christmas Day and when an occasional hurricane passes too close to New Orleans.

The process of making the perfect Café Du Monde beignet has been constant as well. The Café Du Monde beignet is a square piece of dough, always fried in cottonseed oil and lavishly covered with powdered sugar. A plate of three is served for less than $3.

“We buy hundreds of thousands of pounds of cottonseed oil to run the Café Du Monde,” says Burt Benrud, vice president Café Du Monde. “When you’re in the food business, the most important thing you have is the quality of your product — that’s what keeps your customers coming back.

“We don’t even entertain the thought when somebody comes knocking on our door asking us to use a different kind of oil to cook our beignets in — that’s how important cottonseed is to our business. Cottonseed oil is just part of the recipe.”

A new Cotton Board video, “Forever Cotton — The Café,” showcases the story of the world-famous Café Du Monde and highlights its loyalty to cottonseed oil.

Forever Cotton is The Cotton Board’s new multi-faceted commu-

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COTTON FARMING | OCTOBER 2019

nication campaign aimed at cotton producers. It demonstrates the many ways the Cotton Research and Promotion Program works on behalf of U.S. Upland cotton growers to bridge the gap between cotton on their farm and other aspects of the crop. These include cotton as a performance fabric, cottonseed oil as a trusted food source, and production practices for sustainability and stability on the farm.

The Cotton Research and Promotion Program is investing more then $1.5 million into cottonseed research and marketing in 2019, including research on the health benefits of cottonseed oil compared to other oils. Its goal is to make cottonseed oil preferred in

Tip For Cooking The Perfect Beignet One of the most critical steps to making perfectly crisp and light beignets is to be sure the oil is very hot (at least 380 degrees) and that it remains hot throughout the cooking process. If it isn’t, the beignets absorb too much oil and the powdered sugar melts when served. In addition, the beignet is greasy, sticky, and a hot, sweet mess of soggy dough.

Café du Monde only fries their beignets in cottonseed oil, which has a high smoke point of 420 degrees. This allows the café to keep the oil extremely hot as it fries thousands of beignets each day. kitchens across the country, like at the world-famous Café du Monde in New Orleans.

For more information, email Gorman at sgorman@cottonboard.org.

COTTONFARMING.COM

Specialists Speaking Plan For Timely, Efficient Harvest NORTH CAROLINA Keith Edmisten This year’s crop is more variable than it has been in the past few years due to irregular rainfall. As I write this in early September, we have some cotton being defoliated, especially in areas with less rainfall.

Early maturing cotton leaves us with the potential for more regrowth pressure than we have seen in the past few years. Growers need to consider using thidiazuron to help reduce regrowth. With this chemistry possibly in short supply, farmers should not defoliate too much cotton at once and get ahead of their picking capacity.

Enhanced ethephon products can reduce regrowth also, but this is mainly terminal regrowth. Basal regrowth is more of a problem.

Preventing it requires a combination of thidiazuron-containing defoliants and good defoliation timing with harvest capacity. The more time that passes between defoliation and harvest, the more regrowth will occur. keith_edmisten@ncsu.edu

TENNESSEE Tyson Raper As I write this Sept. 9, bolls that have opened in Tennessee have not received a drop of rain. Although rain chances pick up in approximately 10 days, we should have several acres picked by then. Some farmers began defoliating their earliest planted cotton last week, and our dry weather has pushed maturity. I’m confident we will have some outstanding cotton in the earliest planted acreage (late April-early May), but our late crop (mid-late May) is suffering in the dry heat.

If the rains in the forecast develop, we will likely see a flush of juvenile growth, which will have to be removed with another harvest-aid application. From our experience last year, it is extremely challenging to strip dense regrowth from vigorous varieties. For best results, increase spray volume and decrease droplet size. As always, check our blog for updates at news.utcrops.com. traper@utk.edu

MISSOURI Calvin Meeks As I write this, the cotton crop in Missouri is variable, due to the wide variety of planting dates. But overall, it looks good with relatively high yield potential. Ultimately, we will need a warm, dry September and October to capture this yield potential. Hopefully, this warmer-than-average dry weather will hold, and we will have a good harvest season unlike the rainy October 2018.

This crop is certainly behind with heat units being in shorter supply from June and July. Bolls open are currently at 29% for mid-September versus 2018 when 66% of bolls were rated as open by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Missouri Crop Progress and Condition report. The five-year average is 36%, so hopefully this warm, dry weather forecasted for the next two weeks will get these bolls open and help us meet the current yield estimate of 1,239 pounds per acre.

Just like last year, there is a limited availability of thidiazuron this year. Low rates in the 2 ounces per acre range can be used if there is a lack of juvenile tissue, whereas rates in the 3 ounces per acre range would be needed in fields with high regrowth potential. This

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COTTON FARMING | OCTOBER 2019

product also needs 24 hours to be rainfast, so keep that in mind to avoid wasting an application. I encourage using this product to help with regrowth, especially if the wet weather we have seen since last October returns. meeksc@missouri.edu

OKLAHOMA Seth Byrd As of mid-September, warm and fairly dry conditions have helped the cotton crop mature. Even though the flowering period was timely for much of the crop across the state, boll maturity shows how far behind the crop still is. In northwestern areas, plants that finished flowering by the end of August show relatively similar boll maturity characteristics across the bottom half of the plant.

In contrast, lower bolls have begun to crack and open across the southwest and north central regions. The dryland crop in southwestern and west central areas of Oklahoma is even further along and will likely be ready for harvest aid applications, if not harvest, by late September.

Much of the state’s cotton would benefit from this warm, dry weather stretching well into October. Conditions have not only provided an opportunity for the crop to continue fiber development but have also kept down the incidence of late-season diseases. There are little to no reports of bacterial blight or Verticillium wilt to date.

Much of our cotton will likely receive a harvest aid application the first half of October. At this point, cotton in some of the northern areas of the state is not as far along as we’d like. But it is important to remember that the products used for defoliation and boll opening perform best in sunny and warm — above 60 degrees Fahrenheit — conditions.

To properly condition the plants for an efficient harvest and avoid moisture or bark issues, adequate desiccation will be key for stripper-harvested cotton, particularly in northern Oklahoma. While a hard freeze can provide a desiccating effect to small stature plants in some parts of the Cotton Belt, a mild freeze or frost doesn’t fully desiccate the crop. It can lead to issues for stripper harvesters, such as moisture or brittle plants. So a true desiccant application benefits the larger plants with more immature bolls and green plant material common in this region of Oklahoma. seth.byrd@okstate.edu

LOUISIANA Dan Fromme Cotton defoliation got into full swing during the first two weeks in September. Only about 1% of the crop has been harvested as of Sept. 12. So far, conditions have been dry, which is ideal for defoliation and getting the crop out of the field. Harvest operations will be extended this year due to six to eight week differences in planting dates. Cotton planted in June has just now reached cutout.

About 264,000 acres of cotton were planted this year in Louisiana, which will be the most acres planted in the state since 2011.

About 85% of this year’s crop is in the fair to good range with state yields expected to be around 950 pounds of lint per acre. Too much rain early in the season, delayed planting and heavy plant bug pressure are the main culprits that have deterred lint yields this year. dfromme@agcenter.lsu.edu COTTONFARMING.COM

Specialists Speaking Harvest is almost complete in South Texas. Gins are running full blast and modules are stacked as far as you can see, according to Dr. Josh McGinty, Extension agronomist in Corpus Christi. Grades look good and yields are all over the board, with On Sept. 9, this cotton field an overall average of about 2 bales per acre. in Matagorda County, Texas, According to Dr. Emi Kimura, Extension was ready for harvest. agronomist in Vernon, harvest has not yet started in the Rolling Plains. As of mid-September, she estimates most of the region is about 40-50 days from harvest. The irrigated crop looks good, but the dryland cotton continues to suffer from heat and moisture stress since a lot of these areas have received little to no significant rainfall since planting.

Disease and insect pressures are average.

The weather forecast shows continuous hot temperatures, which should be helpful to the late-planted cotton.

By Oct. 1 when you receive this issue of Cotton Farming, it is possible that harvest has already started in West Texas. By midSeptember, there were some dryland fields in and around the Lubbock area that could be prepped for harvest. Overall, the irrigated crop continues to look good despite suffering a bit from the hot, dry August and September. Most of the dryland did not fare so well.

I spent a few weeks in Brazil mid-August to early September participating in the Brazilian Cotton Congress and visiting family. The Brazilians are having a good cotton harvest with the largest producing them as well this coming season.

We haven’t started harvesting this year’s crop in some regions, states — Mato Grosso and Bahia — averaging 3 to 3.5 bales per acre, with some fields pushing much higher yields. While many but I want everyone to start thinking about a plan for next year. farmers there sold their cotton ahead of time and were able to lock Everything considered, input costs need to be watched carefully, in decent prices, current low prices will pose a big challenge for assuming prices remain low. mmaeda@ag.tamu.edu

ARKANSAS Bill Robertson Most everyone is still cautiously optimistic with regard to the crop at this time. Our early cotton looks good, and the late cotton still has the potential to be just as good with the right kind of weather.

The National Agricultural Statistics Service September Crop Production report projects Arkansas producers to harvest 1.47 million bales. Yield is expected to average 1,157 pounds per harvested acre. This would be our second highest yield on record behind the 1,177 pounds harvested in 2017 and 33 pounds above our five-year average. Producers expect to harvest 610,000 acres.

Just as a few pickers are beginning to roll, mid-September NASS projections reported crop maturity in pace with last year and condition of the crop very good with 50% of the crop rated as excellent and another 36% rated good.

There are still a great number of challenges we must be prepared to address as this crop season comes to an end. Get cover crops on TWITTER: @COTTONFARMING

VICKY BOYD

TEXAS Murilo Maeda

your radar if they are not part of your current plan. We all look forward to seeing how this season wraps up as we make plans for 2020. brobertson@uaex.edu

MISSISSIPPI Darrin Dodds Cotton pickers started rolling in Mississippi in mid-September, and preliminary yield reports are encouraging.

Our growers planted an estimated 720,000 acres of cotton in 2019, which is the highest planted acreage since 2006. The predicted yield is 1,115 pounds per acre, slightly lower than our 2018 yield of 1,141 pounds per acre. All things considered, our producers have made another good crop in spite of the many challenges 2019 has thrown our way. I feel it is relatively safe to say we are well into a new era with respect to cotton yield. With records dating back to 1866, only Continued on page 17 OCTOBER 2019 | COTTON FARMING

15

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Industry News New ‘Thriving In Cotton’ Series Kicks Off In November

National Cotton Council Applauds WOTUS Decision

To help cotton farmers make next season their best, PhytoGen is again sponsoring the “Thriving in Cotton” series in Cotton Farming.

Throughout the series, producers and PhytoGen cotton development specialists from across the Cotton Belt will share their real-world experiences growing PhytoGen brand varieties. The series will share how these varieties help growers overcome production challenges to thrive in cotton, even against weeds, insects and other pests.

Check out the “Thriving in Cotton” series every month in Cotton Farming magazine or follow @CottonFarming and @PhytoGenCotton on Facebook and Twitter.

The Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler says the 2015 Waters of the United States rule has been withdrawn. The next step is a new final rule expected toward the end of this year.

NCC Chairman Mike Tate says the U.S. cotton industry has long sought consistency and simplicity in water regulations. “EPA’s decision ends the uncertainty caused by the WOTUS rule and the resulting, sometimes conflicting, court verdicts that led to a patchwork of regulations nationwide.”

Tate, an Alabama cotton farmer, says, “Cotton producers and all of agriculture deserve a common-sense and understandable rule that not only ensures environmental and human health but protects farmland and our rights to conduct our operations in a responsible and economically sustainable manner. This flexibility wasn’t present under the 2015 rule.

“While nothing is perfect, we foresee the new rule as one that does not label as ‘waters of the U.S.’ those vast areas of dryland that have been farmed for generations.”

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Register Now For The 2020 Beltwide Cotton Conferences Once again, the Cotton Consultants’ Conference, which is open to all attendees, will kick off the annual Belwide Cotton Conferences at the JW Marriott in Austin, Texas, Jan. 8-10.

Among topics selected by the consultant community for the 2020 program is an expert panel of entomologists to discuss timely topics ranging from Bt resistance to results of testing Bollgard 4.

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Cotton Farming 16

COTTON FARMING | OCTOBER 2019

COTTONFARMING.COM

Specialists Speaking Continued from page 15

one time prior to 2012 has Mississippi averaged greater than 1,000 pounds per acre. In 2004, our growers averaged 1,024 pounds per acre. However, since 2012 we have not averaged less than 1,000 pounds per acre. From 2012 to present, our average cotton yield has been 1,121 pounds per acre. This is a testament to improvements in all facets of cotton production made by growers, consultants and suppliers. Given that December cotton is at 63 cents per pound as of this writing, we must continue to push yields and maximize return on investment for cotton to be profitable for our growers. dmd76@pss.msstate.edu

ALABAMA Steve M. Brown According to the calendar, the Alabama crop should just now be ready. But much of it has been ready…and waiting. We had many fields set to defoliate by early September. A few growers proceeded.

Prolonged and extreme heat accelerated the crop to a fast finish.

Numerous factors influence harvest timing. Several years ago, a study was conducted to evaluate the effects of delayed harvest on yield and quality. Initiated the first week of open boll, harvest aids were applied weekly for 13 weeks, with picking following two weeks post treatment.

Yields and gross revenue (as affected by fiber premiums and discounts) generally maximized for treatments applied at about 75% STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP MANAGEMENT AND CIRCULATION 1. Publication Title: Cotton Farming 2. Publication Number: 074-8385 3. Filing Date: September 2019 4. Issue Frequency: Jan - Dec 5. Number of Issues: 12x/year 6. Annual Subscription Price: Free to qualified subscribers 7&8. Mailing Address of Known Office/Headquarters: 875 W. Poplar Ave., Ste. 23, Box 305, Collierville, TN 38017 Contact Person: Kathy Killingsworth (901-767-4020) 9. Publisher: Lia Guthrie, 7100 Black Bart Trail, Redwood Valley, CA 95470 Editor: Carroll Smith, 875 W. Poplar Ave., Ste. 23, Box 305, Collierville, TN 38017 10. Owners: Cornelia Guthrie, 7100 Black Bart Trail, Redwood Valley, CA 95470; Dr. David Scott Guthrie,Sr., 7100 Black Bart Trail, Redwood Valley, CA 95470; Morris Ike Lamensdorf, 17 S. Third St., Rolling Fork, MS 39159; Mary Jane Lamensdorf, 17 S. Third St., Rolling Fork, MS 39159 11. Known Bondholders, Mortgagees and Other Security Holders Owning/ Holding 1% or More of Total Amount of Bonds, Mortgages or Other Securities: None 12. Tax Status: Has Not Changed During Preceding 12 Months 14. Issue Date for Circulation Data Below: September 2019 15.a. Total Number of Copies (net press run): (Average No. Copies each Issue During Preceding 12 Months – 25,239) (No. Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date – 24,950) 15.b.(1) Outside County Paid/Requested Mail Subscriptions: (Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months – 13,662) (No. Copies of Single Issue Nearest to Filing Date – 13,582) 15.c. Total Paid and/or Requested Circulation: (Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months – 13,662) (No. Copies of Single Issue Nearest to Filing Date – 13,582) 15.d.(1) Outside County Nonrequested Copies: (Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months – 11,103) (No. Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date – 11,165) 15.d.(4) Nonrequested Copies Distributed Outside the Mail: (Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months - 42) (No. Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date -0-) 15.e. Total Nonrequested Distribution: (Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months - 11,145) (No Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date – 11,165) 15.f. Total Distribution: (Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months - 24,807) (No Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date – 24,747) 15.g. Copies Not Distributed: (Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months - 432) (No. Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date - 203) 15.h. Total: (Average No. copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months – 25,239) (No. Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date – 24,950) 15.i. Percent Paid and/or Requested Circulation: (Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months – 55.1%) (No. Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date – 54.9%) 18. I certify that all information furnished above is true and complete.

Lia Guthrie, Publisher

Twitter: @CottonFarming

open, which was roughly four to five weeks after the first open boll.

This 75% open benchmark has been repeatedly confirmed. I usually supplement it with the sharp-knife method to check the upper bolls for maturity. In terms of quality preservation, early is usually better than later, unless you need to let the cotton brighten after a rainy period. Obviously, fiber quality declines as the crop weathers.

The initial USDA estimate for Alabama projected an average of 942 pounds per acre. Hope they are right, but that seems optimistic. Yield guesses improve as the season unfolds and cotton gets wrapped at the gin.

We have some good cotton, but much of it has been punished by drought, heat and potassium issues. My yield guess is 800 to 850 pounds per acre for a total of bout 850,000 bales.

Let’s go get ’em! cottonbrown@auburn.edu

FLORIDA David Wright Warm weather at planting time and throughout the year has speeded cotton maturity. Most of the Florida cotton was as much as 10 days to two weeks earlier in maturity than normal. This has led to growers having cotton and peanuts ready to harvest at the same time.

Last year’s hurricane has made growers more conscious of harvesting both crops when ready instead of waiting until peanuts are harvested to get to cotton.

Yield potential looks good in some areas and average in other areas that suffered through drought for several weeks. We hope weather will not hamper the late harvest this year. wright@ufl.edu

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COTTON

Ginners Marketplace COTTON FARMING IS THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE GINNING INDUSTRY.

The H-2A Program: What It Is And When To Use It The H-2A temporary agricultural program is for bringing in laborers from other countries to work in agriculture when there is no other source of employees in an area. Typically, this work is limited to “on a farm” or “by a farmer.” Cotton gins are one of only a few entities that can use the H-2A program outside of that narrow use case. Your associations recently spent a lot of resources ensuring this concession stays in place going forward.

The H-2A program was created in 1986 to replace some older programs that tended to lead to worker abuse by various entities. During the past 30 years, workers (legal or not) were available in most areas as seasonal or year-round employees so the program was not widely used for a long time. Immigration officials largely left everyone alone.

The only people who used the program until recently were mostly fruit and vegetable farmers who needed hundreds of workers for a few weeks until they were done. Think large tomato or berry farms or tree fruit. This situation has changed dramatically as all agricultural workers have become nearly impossible to find, including gin workers — more than I ever expected.

The H-2A program is a very cumbersome and expensive source of labor. It is meant to be that way to discourage its use over hiring domestic workers. You should always hire legal U.S. workers over bringing in foreign workers. That’s the law. H-2A is also a program fraught with perils and pitfalls. Many employers have found themselves on the wrong end of an investigation as well as experiencing harassment by worker advocates when using it. Yes, I mean to make sure you understand that the H2-A program is a last resort.

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Ginners’ Associations Go To Bat Recently, the Department of Labor began denying H-2A applications by employers in other industries for workers who drive produce or fruit trucks to the packing shed from the farm. Many of these employers had been using the program for years. We then had one such denial in the cotton industry. A custom hauler was told their work wasn’t agriculture.

Your ginners’ associations banded together and helped fight that denial all the way to court. This effort took resources from across the Cotton Belt to mount a defense, and we got what we needed to accomplish this. The judge affirmed that cotton ginning was indeed agriculture in the definition of the H-2A program and that hauling cotton to the gin was an essential service in connection with the ginning of cotton.

Here is a bit of advice. You have to plan ahead. Employers begin looking for workers in the spring for the fall. Don’t go into the program without a reputable agent/contractor to navigate the shark-infested waters and don’t go into the program half-heartedly. It is easy to get hung on the many rules and regulations.

And bad actors or perceived bad actors should not be in the program. They make it look bad and the industry look bad, too.

Your associations hope you never have to use the H-2A pro-

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Dusty Findley, CEO of the Southeastern Cotton Ginners Association, contributed this article. Contact him at 706344-1212 or dusty@southern-southeastern.org.

* * * * *

TCGA Interns Wrap Up Their Summer Experience The Texas Cotton Ginners’ Association has conducted a summer intern program for the past 12 years. This year’s participants — Kalin Clark, Garrett Gallagher and Brendon Mikeska — provided their initial reports in the August issue of Cotton Farming. Here are their summary accounts upon ďŹ nishing the 2019 internship activities.

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This required us to enter inside the drum of the condenser, which was almost like an oven in the Texas heat. We also had to check the oil levels in all gear boxes and grease anything we were able to along with checking all fan belts. We ďŹ nally got to start the gin so I could see for the ďŹ rst time everything I have been working on all summer in action. It was quite a sight to see cotton pouring down the Lummus 170 gin stands.

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I assisted with fixing breakdowns that happened as the gin got broken in for the season. One day, the gin stand feed auger sheered, and we had to pull out the broken section and take it to the welding shop to fix so we could re-install it the next morning.

When things were running smoothly, I watched the gin stands and lint cleaners and checked for blockages and choke-ups.

I would like to give a special thanks to everyone at TCGA, Oasis Gin Inc. and United Ag Co-op. I have been treated like family by everyone, and this has been a fantastic summer. I learned so much, which would not have been possible without a great support system. I hope to graduate this December, hopefully find a job in the cotton industry and see these great people again!

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Garrett Gallagher — Texas A&M University I have really enjoyed my past few weeks as an intern with the Texas Cotton Ginners’ Association. I had the opportunity to visit the Corpus Christi U.S. Department of Agriculture classing office where I saw how the USDA goes about classing every sample they get. While there, I witnessed the first sample of cotton to be classed in the United States for the 2019 cotton harvest. I also visited the Gulf Compress. While there, I toured the plant, learned about the history of Gulf Compress and discussed the future of the cotton industry.

We began ginning July 29, and it seemed there was a new experience every day. I worked just about every position in the gin. This helped me better understand the amount of teamwork needed for a gin to operate efficiently.

My favorite position was working alongside the ginner as a ginner’s helper. While working in this position, I learned how to speed up and slow down the gin stands, make sure they were being fed evenly, and speed up or slow down the gin based on the quality of the cotton being fed into the module feeder. I also experienced the “joys” of several choke-ups and how ginners determine what caused them and how to fix the situation.

Working in a cotton gin is not for the weak-minded. After participating in this internship, I have great respect for those who put in long hours every year to gin our nation’s cotton. I really enjoyed this internship and would like to thank Aaron Nelsen and the Texas Cotton Ginners’ Association for allowing me to have this great experience. It gave me the opportunity to make many connections I never would have thought possible before!

I would also like to thank Guyle Roberson, his two superintendents — Joe Richards and Gilbert Zapata — Curtis Hard, and everyone at Texas Producers Co-op for getting me up to speed on the ginning industry and the warm West Texas hospitality.

Finally, I thank Sid Brough, his two superintendents — Hector and Jesse Cruz — Daniel Luehrs, and everyone at Edcot Co-op Gin in Odem, Texas, for all the different experiences you allowed me to be a part of while in South Texas. I greatly appreciate the knowledge that everyone shared with me this past summer!

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Brendon Mikeska — Texas Tech University I have enjoyed this internship very much. I was put in a position where I met a lot of good contacts in the gin business, and I am very appreciative for this opportunity. After finishing the repairs, we started ginning. We had a little trouble with the press at the beginning, but we were able to diagnose the problem as the box unlatch limit switches. After fixing this issue, we ran steady until the end of my time at Coastal Plains Cotton Co. I really enjoyed my internship and would highly recommend any student who wants to either learn about the industry or would like a career within the industry to pursue this program.

Once again, thank you to Jerry Butman, John Steelhammer and Aaron Nelsen for giving me this opportunity.

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My Turn Technology, Cotton Go Hand In Hand

I

used in the Ag2020 project. The probes showed am blessed to be a that my dad and the other managers were really fourth-generation good at what they did and weren’t over- or underfarmer and a secondwatering. generation California But we were likely not irrigating with enough farmer. My parents, Ted frequency, and the duration was too long to maxand Deborah Sheely, imize the value of our drip system. We needed to moved to California from adopt another piece of technology to help control Arizona to farm cotton the irrigation valves and pumps. This shift in in California’s Central strategy resulted in reduced variability, a yield Valley in the 1970s. We increase and cost reductions. It also meant I was are south of Fresno and Zach able to add value to our management team. receive less than 8 inchWhen my focus shifted to software, I helped es of annual rainfall.

Sheely found a company to develop farming apps that Farming in the land of allowed us to better manage the jobs on our farm fruits and nuts has its and improve our team’s communication. Shortly challenges as one of the most regulated farmafter our first year, I was asked to speak at a ing geographies on the planet. We are served by conference for independent crop consultants and water stored in the Sierra Nevada snowpack and met one of the founders of Agworld. I joined the state reservoirs. We also pump from wells when company in 2012 and there is no water alloserve as president cation to be had.

“Growing cotton means you get now of the USA region.

I grew up like most a new chance every year.”

I love being able cotton farming kids. to serve other cotton My first job was chopfarmers throughout the country. Our company ping weeds as a member of the “hoe crew.” From wants to enable them to easily capture their there, I graduated to moving handlines — alufarm information, get insights from data and minum sprinklers — from one irrigation set to work with others who provide advice or services the next. My dad called this job both motivation on the same platform. I also still enjoy working to go to college and a better workout than lifting with my dad and my brother, Jacob Sheely, on weights. I also had a few short stints driving a select farming decisions and business opportuniwater truck before attending Westmont, a liberal ties. But what I love most about growing cotton arts college where I studied biology, chemistry is that you get a new chance every year — unlike and music. the permanent crops we grow. And producing I was lucky to get an internship during the fiber is particularly fulfilling when it involves Ag2020 project in California where NASA was projects where clothing can be traced back to our disseminating technology to the private sector. operation.

Our farm was selected for many of the trials due Farming is full of entrepreneurs and visionarto its early adoption of other technologies. While ies like my dad and brother. We continue to grow in college, I worked on the project, which resulted our team internally and leverage the value of in the first variable-rate aerial application west of other forward-thinking people and businesses. I’m the Mississippi River. excited about farming and how technology and After graduation, I came back to the farm while digital platforms will enable growers to continue continuing to study music and sing opera profesto innovate and provide food and fiber into the sionally. But I quickly learned I didn’t know much future. about the business of farming. Upon returning, I focused on irrigation. To add to the value of real– Zach Sheely time information and trending water availabiliSacramento, California ty, we placed monitoring equipment in strategic zach@agworld.com areas of our field, using the same software I had

Cotton Farming’s back page is devoted to telling unusual “farm tales” or timely stories from across the Cotton Belt. Now it’s your turn. If you’ve got an interesting story to tell, send a short summary to csmith@onegrower.com. We look forward to hearing from you.

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