Midwest, Western Farmers Set to Tour High Plains Cotton Operations

Sixteen farmers from the Midwest and Northwest will observe cotton and other agricultural operations in the Lubbock, TX, area November 1-4, as part of the National Cotton Council’s (NCC) Multi-Commodity Education Program (MCEP).

Launched in 2006, the MCEP is coordinated by NCC’s Member Services and local leaders and organizations. The program is supported by The Cotton Foundation, with a grant from Deere & Company.

The exchange is designed to provide the program’s participants with a better understanding of production issues/concerns faced by their peers in another geographic region, and an opportunity to observe agronomic practices, technology utilization, cropping patterns, marketing plans and operational structure.

The program encourages continuing dialogue among American farmers, regardless of their crops or locations, and helps build lasting relationships between this nation’s current and future producer leaders.

Producer participants are Gary Beck, Munich, ND; Jed Bower, Washington Court House, OH; Pete Friederichs, Foxhome, MN; Morey Hill, Madrid, IA; Mark Jackson, Rose Hill, IA; Greg Kessel, Belfield, ND; Dan Kolar, Billings, MT; Mitch Konen, Fairfield, MT; Kristen Kreuger, Kalispell, MT; Doyle Lentz, Rolla, ND; Dwight Little, Teton, ID; Vince Mattson, Chester, MT; Drew Parsley, Warroad, MN; E.L. Reed, Chillicothe, MO; and Ben Toeckes and Kurt Voss, both of Townsend, MT.

The group will be led by John Gibson, NCC Member Services director, and Susan Everett, NCC Member Services representative in west Texas.

After an orientation to the National Cotton Council on November 1, the participants will spend the next day in Lubbock at Plains Cotton Growers Association for an overview of that organization and of High Plains cotton production. They also will visit the AgriLife Research & Extension Center, the USDA Agricultural Research Service’s Ginning Laboratory, Hurst Farm Supply, and Lubbock Cotton Growers Cooperative, before touring the Idalou Coop Gin in nearby Idalou.

On November 3, the participants will visit the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service’s Cotton Division facility in Lubbock, before touring Seaton Farms in Meadow and Birdsong Peanuts in Brownfield. A presentation on the Cotton Board’s producer-funded research and promotion program completes the day’s agenda.

The next day, the group will visit Plains Cotton Cooperative Association to learn about cotton merchandising, and PYCO Industries for a briefing on cottonseed processing and products. They also will get a presentation from High Plains Water District staff on water rights and rules, learn about cotton warehousing and shipping at Farmers Coop Compress, and hear about whole cottonseed use in feed rations at Red Rock Dairy in nearby Amherst.

The tour concludes with a wine tasting at the Caprock Winery in Lubbock.

 

Source – National Cotton Council