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 

There are three newer corn herbicide premixes available:  Acuron GT, Armezon PRO and Resicore. Below are some thoughts on these newer premixes as well as some that have been around for a spell: Continue reading →

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. 

It sounds like there is a little more interest in planting grain sorghum this spring compared to more recent years. As such producers who have never planted grain sorghum or have not planted it in years may be trying some this year.  With this in mind here are some pointers on weed management recommendations in grain sorghum. Continue reading →

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.

I’m extremely excited to introduce the presenter for our third segment of the 2021 Cotton Focus Video Series- Dr. Bob Kemerait, Professor and Extension Specialist for the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of Georgia.  Dr. Kemerait’s program covers corn, cotton, peanuts and soybeans for the state of Georgia. As many of you know, Georgia cotton growers are faced with big challenges every year, including boll rot, Bacterial blight, Cotton leafroll dwarf virus, Fusarium wilt, nematodes, Target spot, Areolate mildew and seedling diseases.  Dr. Kemerait’s program guides his growers through each of these challenges.  While we face our own unique challenges, I always find it beneficial to learn about challenges faced by other regions and I believe understanding these issues from other perspectives makes us better at producing within our own environment.

On behalf of Dr. Heather Kelly and myself, special thanks to Dr. Kemerait for taking the time out of his extremely busy schedule to deliver this presentation.  I should also add, Dr. Kemerait is on Twitter.  I thoroughly enjoy following his profile- his posts are very informative and often entertaining; who else do you know that has video of a turtle eating a cotton plant?  You can find his profile here.

Dr. Kemerait’s presentation is linked below:

Again, thank you Dr. Kemerait!