P.I.E. Tour: Mid-South, Southeast Growers to See Texas Cotton Operations
August 19, 2023 Thirteen cotton producers from the Southeast and Mid-South will observe cotton and other agriculture-related operations in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley and Coastal Bend regions on Aug. 20-25 as part of the National Cotton Council’s (NCC) Producer Information Exchange (P.I.E.).
Since the program’s launch in 1998, more than 1,200 U.S. cotton producers have been exposed to innovative production practices in Cotton Belt regions different than their own. The P.I.E. program is sponsored by BASF Agricultural Solutions through a grant to The Cotton Foundation and is coordinated by the NCC Member Services staff in conjunction with local producer interest organizations.
The program aims to help participating producers boost their farming efficiency by gaining new perspectives in such fundamental practices as land preparation, planting, fertilization, pest control, irrigation and harvesting; and by observing firsthand the unique ways in which their innovative peers are using current technology. Participants are encouraged to ask questions of the producers they visit, as well as the other regional participants on the tour.
Tour participants are:
- Alabama – Chase Gossett and Jeff Gossett, both of Centre; and Steve Griffith, Dutton
- Arkansas – Tyler Cornish, Monette; and Payton Stegall, Marianna
- Georgia – Chase Grantham, Douglas; Brett Sauls, Shellman; and Greg Sikes, Brooklet
- Mississippi – Burke Hendrix, Jr., Hernando; and George Perry, III, Tunica
- Missouri – Terry Fuller, Kennett
- Virginia – Wesley Barnes, Courtland; and Tyler Oliver, Smithfield.
The tour begins Aug. 21 in Harlingen where the group will learn about cottonseed oil processing at the Valley Coop Oil Mill and visit the Ross Gin Company in Mercedes. Later, they will tour Rio Farms in Monte Alto and tour individual farms in the area.
The next day, the group will learn about BASF agronomic performance trials near La Feria, tour a border cotton trans-shipment warehouse at CI Logistics in Weslaco, and learn about the availability of irrigation water from the Rio Grande River at the Hidalgo and Cameron Counties Irrigation District #9 in Mercedes. Later that day, the producers will tour Chris Bauer Farms near San Benito, and get an update on boll weevil eradication status in the Rio Grande Valley from the Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation.
The next two days will be spent in the state’s Coastal Bend region.
On Aug. 23, the producers will observe agriculture in Kleberg County and visit Smith Gin Coop in Odem before touring area farms.
The tour concludes on Aug. 24 when the group travels to Corpus Christi to visit the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service cotton classing operation and Stover Equipment Company to observe module truck manufacturing.
Information from the National Cotton Council
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