Far West Cotton Producers to See Mid-South Cotton Operations
July 24, 2014 Nine cotton producers from Arizona, California and New Mexico will visit and observe cotton operations in Arkansas, Missouri and Tennessee July 28-31 as part of the National Cotton Council’s 2014 Producer Information Exchange (P.I.E.) program.
Sponsored by Bayer CropScience through a grant to The Cotton Foundation, the P.I.E. program is in its 26th year of helping its U.S. producer participants improve yields and fiber quality.
The program is designed to help cotton producers boost their overall operation’s efficiency by gaining new perspectives in such fundamental practices as land preparation, planting, fertilization, pest control, irrigation and harvesting; and observing the unique ways in which their innovative peers in other regions of the country are using current technology.
Western cotton growers participating in the tour are Cassy England, Casa Grande, AZ; Jerred Barba, Lemoore, CA; Michael Kleiber, Merced, CA; Tim Sanchez, Hanford, CA; Daniel Martin and Renato Serrano, both from Firebaugh, CA; Dosi Alvarez and Seth Ferguson, both of La Union, NM; and Brandon Jones, Virden, NM.
Following an orientation, the group will begin their Mid-South activities in Tennessee on July 28 with a look at the Stoneville Breeding Facility at Agricenter International in Memphis. They will also see Walker Farms precision agriculture efforts in Somerville and observe cotton operations in that area. On July 29, the group will tour the West Tennessee Research and Education Center in Jackson, Hargett Farms in Bells, and Lindamood Planting Company in Tiptonville.
On July 30, the producers will go to Missouri to see test plots, irrigation and discuss round module pickers at Parker Farm in Senath. They will then travel to northeast Arkansas for a discussion of weed resistance and new varieties at the Sam Stuckey Farm in Clarkedale.
On July 31, the group will hear about flood management at the St. Francis Levee District in West Memphis, AR, and at the W.G. Huxtable Pumping Station in Marianna, AR. They also will visit the Lon Mann Cotton Research Station in Marianna before concluding their tour at the Cotton Museum in Memphis.
In this season’s other P.I.E. tours, Southwest producers will visit North Carolina and Virginia August 3-8, and Southeast producers will tour Texas August 17-22. Mid-South producers saw operations in California’s San Joaquin Valley in mid-July.
Source – National Cotton Council
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