By Jim Steadman
Twelve Mid-South cotton producers will see agricultural operations in North Carolina and South Carolina on July 18-21 as part of the National Cotton Council’s 2016 Producer Information Exchange (P.I.E.) program.
Sponsored by Bayer CropScience through a grant to The Cotton Foundation, the P.I.E. program is now in its 28th year of helping participants improve yields and fiber quality. The program specifically aims to help its participants boost their overall farming operation 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 peers are using current technology.
Upon completion of this year’s tours, the P.I.E. program will have exposed more than 1,100 U.S. cotton producers to innovative production practices in regions different than their own.
Participating in the tour are Barry Brantley, Lake Village, AR; Kody Beavers, Fort Necessity, LA; Casey Cater, Harrisonburg, LA; Nathan Lee, Tallulah, LA; Clifton Mills and Ryan Wilkerson, both from Rayville, LA; Paul Muirhead, Anguilla, MS; John Thomas Robertson, Indianola, MS; Smith Stoner, Holly Bluff, MS; Gary Hayes, Portageville, MO; Adrian Smith, Grand Junction, TN; and Alex Youngerman, Lexington, TN.
The group will spend the first two days in North Carolina. On July 18, they will visit Bayer’s headquarters in Raleigh for presentations on innovative technologies and the biotechnology regulatory environment, plus a greenhouse tour focusing on cotton plant cultivation and trait characterization. They also will visit the company’s Bee Care Center before traveling to Sanford for a look at yarn spinning at Frontier Mills.
The next day will include visits to Cotton Incorporated’s headquarters in Cary, Cotton Growers Co-Op in Garner, Mount Olive Pickle in Mount Olive, and Warren Brothers Farms in Newton Grove, where the group will see tobacco, cotton, sweet potato and swine production.
On July 20, the producers will travel to South Carolina for a look at the Bayer CAP Trials, followed by visits to the Nucor Steel Plant and the Sonoco Paper Products plant, both in Hartsville. On July 21, they will observe cotton and peanut production at John Hane Farms in Saint Matthews, see peanut receiving and handling at the Palmetto Peanut operation in Cameron, and look at commercial sod production and harvesting at a Super Sod facility outside of Orangeburg.
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