MEMPHIS –Eleven cotton producers from Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia will see cotton operations in Texas August 21-25 as part of the 2011 National Cotton Council’s Producer Information Exchange (P.I.E.). Upon completion of this year’s four tours, the P.I.E. will have exposed more than 900 U.S. cotton producers to innovative production practices in regions different than their own.
Sponsored by Bayer CropScience via a grant to The Cotton Foundation, the P.I.E. program is now in its 23rd year of helping its U.S. cotton producer participants improve yields and fiber quality. Specifically, the program helps producers improve their overall farming operation efficiency by: 1) gaining new perspectives in such fundamental practices as land preparation, planting, fertilization, pest control, irrigation and harvesting and 2) observing firsthand the unique ways in which their peers are using new and existing technology.
The tour will begin on August 22 in Lubbock with a visit to the Bayer CropScience Warehouse for an update on the company’s research/development, an overview on the Plains Cotton Growers Association and presentations on “Texas Cotton Production” and the “Texas Cotton Improvement Program” from Texas A&M researchers. They will then tour PYCO Industries for a presentation on cottonseed and its varied uses, and then tour the Farmer’s Cooperative Compress before visiting Mimms Farm in Acuff.
The next day in Lubbock the group will get a presentation on electronic marketing at Plains Cotton Cooperative Association, tour the Texas Feed Lot and the Back to Earth Resources for a look at turning gin trash into a value-added product.
The next two days, the group will be in the state’s Coastal Bend area. On the 24th while in Corpus Christi, they will visit Stover Equipment Company, the Gulf Compress, the Port of Corpus Christi and Gatefront, LLC. They also will visit Edcot Gin Coop in Odem. The tour concludes on August 25 with a visit to Kingsville for a tour of the King Ranch and Farms and a look at algae biodiesel and gossypol free shrimp feeding projects conducted by Texas AgriLife Extension. The producers also will visit the Smith Gin Coop and then participate in individual farm tours in San Patricio, Nueces and Kleberg counties.
In July, Mid-South cotton producers traveled to California’s San Joaquin Valley while Far West producers toured the Mid-South. Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas producers visited Georgia on August 7-12.