Growers attending the 2017 Bayer Showcase Plot Tour saw a brand new cotton breeding facility and had the opportunity to learn more about current cotton varieties as well as those that are up and coming. Western Region Agronomic Manager Kenny Melton said they especially heard questions about which varieties fit on acres affected by verticillium wilt. “We have probably the …
Bayer Proves Strong Commitment to Cotton
With lots of things going on in the cotton industry, Bayer is reinforcing its overall commitment to cotton. The company recently opened a new Cotton Breeding Station in Lubbock, and hosted its 2017 Showcase Plot Tour there. The new facility provides a place for the breeding group and trade development group to collaborate at the same site, allowing them to …
Bayer Crop Protection Portfolio Helps Farmers Fight Challenges
Farmers who use seed treatments and premium seed packages can see early season advantages including better establishment, better root systems and better defense against disease and insect pressure. That was the key message from Bayer Senior Technical Service Representative Russ Perkins at the company’s Showcase Plot Tour in Lubbock, Texas. Perkins covered the company’s crop protection portfolio, sharing a number …
EPA Announces New Dicamba Rules
The Environmental Protection Agency has announced new requirements for the use of dicamba formulations “over the top” to further minimize the potential for drift when applying to dicamba-tolerant soybeans and cotton. EPA worked worked with impacted states and land-grant universities, as well as Monsanto, BASF and DuPont on measures that will allow farmers to make informed choices for seed purchases …
Bayer Showcasing Commitment to Cotton
The Head of Seeds, North America, for Bayer CropScience is Lee Rivenbark. Lee was a lunchtime presenter during the Bayer Showcase Plot Tour in Lubbock, TX. I thought he would be a great person to provide an overview of why Bayer holds these events and especially the one in their new Cotton Breeding Station. He started out by telling me, …
Conaway Comments on Cotton Damage in Texas
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway (R-TX) toured south Texas last week with Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to see first hand some of the agricultural damage caused by Hurricane Harvey. Conaway and Perdue viewed the area by helicopter and visited farms that were anticipating a record crop before the snow white fields of cotton were covered in flood waters from …
Ag Secretary Surveying Hurricane Damage
Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue is in Florida today after surveying Hurricane Irma damage in his home state of Georgia last week. In Georgia, Perdue toured pecan farms where thousands of trees were lost and will take years to replace, with estimates that 20-30% of this year’s crop was lost, and also visited with cotton farmers who may have lost …
No Hurricane Damage Included in New Crop Report
Two hurricanes in the past two weeks mean that the September Crop Production report is already a bit out of date. Rainfall from Hurricane Harvey caused flooding in parts of southeastern Texas and southwestern Louisiana, impacting data collection activities for the September report, so NASS will collect harvested acreage information in both states for a number of crops in preparation …
Bayer Showcases Cotton and Peanuts
The peanut and cotton crops are looking especially good right now in Georgia and with harvest still about two weeks away farmers are hopeful Hurricane Irma will spare them. “Harvest season is always critical and you can have a great year and it all be ruined by one hurricane,” said Keith Rucker, Bayer Southeast region technical service rep, during a …
USDA Reports Record High Soybean Acreage, Corn Acres Down
The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is estimating a record high 89.5 million acres of soybeans planted in the U.S. for 2017. That’s up seven percent from last year. Corn acres are looking to be down about three percent. All cotton acreage for 2017 is estimated at 12.1 million acres, 20 percent above last year, while all wheat planted …