7-24-09
Issues/Needs for the Next 3-5 Years
- Economic Competitiveness
- Cost of Transgenic Seed (Cotton)
- Development of Conventional Cotton Varieties
- Variety Tests on Farms
- Conventional Cotton Systems – Management – Timing of Inputs
- Larger Farms & Conventional Cotton – Time/Management – Fit of Technology?
- Value of New Cotton Varieties (Transgenics)
- Planting Rates
- Water Quality and Quantity
- Profitable Alternative Crops
- Black-eyed Peas
- Wheat
- Milo
- Production Issues
- Larger/Better Equipment to Farm More Land in Timely Manner
- Profit Margin Squeeze
- Labor Costs
- Retiring Farmers – Lack of Young Farmers
- Fertilizer Issues
- Cost and Rate
- Soil Testing and Deep Nitrogen
- Nitrogen Fixing Crops
- Weed Control
- Herbicide Resistance
- Mare’s Tail
- Others
- Purple Nut sedge
- Morning Glory
- Herbicide Drift – Transgenic & Conventional Cotton Grown in Adjacent Fields
- Diseases
- Nematodes – Root Knot and Renniform
- Verticillium Wilt
- Insect Pests
- Bollworm (Conventional Cotton)
- Spider Mites
- Alternative Crops – Changing Insect Issues – Thrips moving from Wheat to Cotton
- Drought Tolerance
- Marketing Issues – Strategies for Dryland – Pool
- Regulations
- Water Districts
- Clean Water Act
- Carbon Cap and Trade
- Federal Regulations
- Environmental
- Farming – Green Industry
- IPM – Green Technology
- Education
- Non-Agricultural Audiences – Agriculture is a Green Industry
- Best Management Practices for Agriculture