Fourteen cotton producers from the Southwest and Far West cotton production regions went to Georgia on August 4-9 to observe cotton operations as part of the National Cotton Council’s (NCC) 2024 Producer Information Exchange (P.I.E.) program. KC Sheperd visited with San Angelo cotton farmer Roger Glass about his experience on the P.I.E. tour.
Launched in 1989, the P.I.E. program is sponsored by BASF Agricultural Solutions through a grant to The Cotton Foundation. More than 1,200 U.S. cotton producers have been exposed to innovative production practices in Cotton Belt regions different than their own through the P.I.E. tour so far. Specifically, the program helps producers improve their overall farming operation efficiency by:
- Gaining new perspectives in such fundamental practices as land preparation, planting, fertilization, pest control, irrigation, and harvesting;
- Observing diverse farming practices and the creative ways in which other resourceful producers use to integrate both new and traditional technologies.
For Glass, the tour began in Tallahassee, Florida where he met up with the rest of the group before making their way through Georgia all the way to the Port of Savannah. He said, “We saw a lot of really pretty cotton, peanuts, and wheat, and got to stay at some cool places.”
They toured a greenhouse facility that starts about 20 million pine trees every year to replace those harvested, and two different vegetable packing sheds, one of which was processing kale from the truck to the package. The group also saw tobacco being harvested, which Glass thought was a highlight of the trip.
Glass said that the soil in Georgia was much sandier than what he farms in San Angelo. “Their saying was that they are always seven days away from a drought meaning that after their last rain, their soil drains and dries out within seven days.”
He described riding on a gooseneck trailer being pulled through a field standing in water an inch deep. “The sand held up so well, we weren’t even making tracks in the dirt. You couldn’t do that in Texas,” he said.
Even still, Glass admired the cotton he saw in the Georgia fields which were 90% irrigated. He explained that he is used to annual rainfall averages being around 25 inches and often still getting a good crop. However, the sandier soil in Georgia doesn’t hold it as well, so irrigation is required to maintain their crops when rain doesn’t fall every seven days. He also noted some familiar soil conservation efforts such as the localized use of cover crops.
“We learned that in every part of the world, no matter how good it seems, they all have their own set of problems,” Glass said.
He described problems with root rot and stinkbugs in San Angelo, and admitted that there is currently very little dryland cotton, but irrigated cotton looks decent. However, he said that water availability is dwindling.
“I have a place that used to pump about 1200 gallons per minute, but it is down to about four to five hundred gallons per minute, and we can’t stretch that very far,” he said.
Overall, Glass said that he enjoyed the tour, made new friends, and would like to go on it again if repeat tours were accepted.
