Seed Vigor Is A Top Priority For Cotton Farmers

Jan 12, 2016

Top priorities of producers across the cotton belt, according to a new Cotton Incorporated survey.

Forty-two percent of respondents cited the combination of seed vigor and stand establishment as a major problem, making it No. 6 on a list of 27 concerns. Another 40 percent rated the issue as a moderate concern. The sixth place ranking in the 2015 survey was the same as in a 2011 assessment.

Production costs topped the list of priorities, with 81 percent of respondents citing that as a major concern and 16 percent tagging it as moderate. Other concerns on the list were weed resistance to herbicides, weed control, cottonseed value, and spread of plant diseases and weeds. Rounding out the top 12 issues were consumer attitudes about agriculture’s impact on the environment, cotton’s tolerance to heat and drought, efficient use of fertilizer, adequate water supply, variety selection, and plant bug control.

Kater Hake, vice president of agricultural and environmental research at Cotton Incorporated, Cary, N.C., reported the survey results in a Cotton Disease Council session at the Beltwide Cotton Conferences in New Orleans. He focused on the cottonseed issue.

“The value of planting seed is critical for growers, and hyper-critical to seed companies,” he says. “All their biotech, regulatory, breeding, testing, and production investments are rolled into that bag of seed — they must sell seed to recover their investment.” They also sell germplasm or traits to other seed companies.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.