In the past 10 days, the TN cotton crop appears to have turned the corner.  Still, most all our acres classify as ‘late’, with the majority of the crop planted after the 15th of May.  That in itself isn’t too troubling, but the failure of late May and early June to provide any decent growing conditions delayed our crop even more.  A long fall would correct most all issues, but I’ve not had much luck slowing time or changing the weather.  Fortunately, we can take a few management strategies in the coming weeks to partially mitigate our painfully slow start to this season.  In this blog, I highlight management decisions in three areas that can help us emphasize earliness- fertility, plant growth and plant bugs. Continue reading →

We kicked off the 2021 Cotton Focus Video Series with two videos from Dr. Scott Stewart.  To wrap the event up, we are providing a final video covering plant bugs from Dr. Stewart.

Dr. Stewart’s video can be accessed below or by clicking here.  Again, thanks to everyone for tuning in and a special thanks to our speakers!

Thanks to all of our presenters who contributed to the 2021 Cotton Focus Video Series!

For those interested in points, please make sure to watch all videos (posted at utcrops.com/cotton, click the link and scroll down to the bottom of the page) and then complete the quiz which can be found here. The quiz password is 2021.

Have you recently found yourself thumbing through fiber quality data wondering, ‘how do they generate this data, and what does it all mean, again?’  In the last 2021 Cotton Focus Video Series entry, I give a brief walk-through of the University of Tennessee MicroGin and highlight a publication from last year by Steve Brown and Tyler Sandlin (Auburn University) covering explaining the process of fiber development and fiber quality.  I also highlight results from a recent MidSouth Cotton Specialists’ effort which re-evaluated the role of variety selection, the environment and management on realized fiber quality.    Continue reading →

For this week’s video, we have the pleasure of visiting with Dr. Brian Pieralisi.  Brian serves as the Cotton Specialist with Mississippi State University.  Dr. Pieralisi joined Mississippi State roughly a year ago; prior to starting his current position, Brian was a cotton producer himself.  He completed his graduate work with Dr. Bobby Golden.

Brian sat down with me a few weeks back to discuss plant growth management.  He covers the basics of plant growth management in this video and we discuss some of the questions we are currently asked late in the year pertaining to PGRs- particularly when plant growth has become extremely aggressive.  I’m happy to have Dr. Pieralisi as a colleague and really appreciate his presentation.  You can watch his presentation below or by clicking here.  Brian is also on Twitter- @BPieralisi 

Our fifth presentation for the 2021 Cotton Focus Video Series is our own Dr. Aaron Smith, Extension Economist in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.  Dr. Smith has recorded a presentation covering the 2021 Cotton Outlook.  I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this presentation and I believe you will gain a great deal from his insight.

Dr. Smith is a regular at our Cotton Focus events and I am extremely grateful to have his participation this year and his engagement with the cotton industry- we are extremely fortunate to have him in Tennessee.  Special thanks to Dr. Smith for recording this presentation.  You can watch his video by clicking here or in the video box below. 

The US Cotton Trust Protocol is a new program for US cotton that enables producers to measure their sustainability on the farm and transfer that information down the supply chain, ultimately to the brands and retailers. Because consumers are demanding more traceability, this platform enables US cotton growers greater market access.

In this week’s Cotton Focus video, Dr. Lori Duncan, Crop Sustainability Specialist, gives a brief overview of the need for the Trust Protocol and the enrollment process. Mr. John Lindamood, a cotton grower from Tiptonville and a leader in the cotton industry, joined Dr. Duncan in a virtual visit to discuss his viewpoint as a participant in the Trust Protocol. In this conversation, he details the need he sees for this new program as well as his experience in the enrollment process. We very much appreciate Mr. Lindamood’s time and willingness to share his perspective and his leadership in this new program.  We are also extremely grateful for Dr. Duncan and her continuous support of cotton producers both within and beyond the state of Tennessee.

You can access the video by clicking here or the link below.