Welcome to the June 16, 2023 issue of Cotton News, a service provided by Plains Cotton Growers Inc. for the cotton industry in the Texas High Plains and beyond.
USDA Accepts More Than 1 Million Acres in Offers Through the Conservation Reserve Program General Signup
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is accepting more than 1 million acres in this year’s Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) General
signup. This is one of several signups that USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is holding for the program. The results for CRP General signup reflect the continued importance of CRP as a tool to help producers invest in the long-term health, sustainability, and profitability of their land and resources. The signup’s results include more than 190,000 acres in Texas.
“This year’s General CRP signup demonstrates the value and continued strength of this voluntary conservation program, which plays an important role in helping mitigate climate change and conserve our natural resources,” said Kelly Adkins, FSA State Executive Director in Texas. “Today’s announcement is one of many enrollment and partnership opportunities within CRP, including opportunities through our working lands Grassland CRP, Continuous CRP, and Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP). USDA will continue working to ensure producers and landowners have the information they need to take advantage of the options that work best for their operations.”
Offers for new land in this General CRP signup totaled about 295,000 acres nationwide. Producers submitted re-enrollment offers for 891,000 expiring acres, reflecting the successes of participating in CRP longer term. The total number of CRP acres will continue to climb in the coming weeks once FSA accepts acres from the Grassland CRP signup, which closed May 26. Additionally, so far this year, FSA has received 761,000 offered acres for the Continuous CRP signup, for which FSA accepts applications year-round.
The number of accepted acres that are enrolled in General CRP will be confirmed later this year. Participating producers and landowners should also remember that submitting and accepting a CRP offer is the first step, and producers still need to develop a conservation plan before contracts become effective on October 1, 2023. Each year, during the window between offer acceptance and land enrollment, some producers ultimately decide not to enroll some accepted acres, without penalty.
End in Sight for 2023 Cotton Planting
Originally written and published by Cotton Grower.
Another big week in planting progress for the 2023 U.S. cotton crop.
USDA’s Crop Progress report for the week ending June 11 shows that 71% of the U.S. crop is now planted – up another 10 percentage points in the past week, yet 5 points behind the 5-year national average for this week. Most states have now topped the 90% planted mark, with growers in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas trying to catch up despite weather issues and delays in the High Plains/Panhandle/Northern Plains areas.
In all, 12 of the 15 cotton-producing states are currently ahead or equal to their respective state 5-year averages for this date.
Squaring is now reported in 11% of the U.S. crop – up 5 percentage points in the past week but still 3 points off the 5-year average. Squares are now found in 14 of the 15 cotton-producing states.
Overall cotton condition this week shows that 49% of the U.S. crop is rated good/excellent, 36% fair, and 15% poor/very poor.
Jimie Reed Honored by Plains Pest Management for 50 Years of Service
Originally published by Plains Pest Management
Jimie Reed receiving a gift from Plains Pest Management President Ronald Groves for 50 years of work with the IPM Program.
Jimie Reed, a producer in southern Swisher County, was honored this month by Plains Pest Management for his 50-year involvement with the organization, 35-plus of those years serving as an
elected officer on the steering committee. As an officer Jimie represented his fellow member producers and helped guide the program’s direction. Jimie and his father were active in the organization of Plains Pest Management, the larger, State-wide, Texas Pest Management Association, and the foundation of the Texas IPM Program in the early 1970’s. These organizations work in partnership with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Integrated Pest Management
Programs to address evolving pest issues, advance agriculture, and offer integrated pest management education through pest monitoring and independently conducted local research trials.
Ronald Groves, Plains Pest Management President and Hale County Producer recently addressed the group’s membership at the group’s spring meeting, “Not every county has an IPM Program. Just counties that need that specialized education and are willing to work with and even help fund an agent. The Hale and Swisher IPM Program has been critical in seeing us through many problems and continues to do so. We have had a strong IPM Program for many years and continue to do so with good agents and great volunteer members like Jimie Reed.”
Jimie retired from the Plains Pest Management steering committee in 2023 with his nephew, Jeremy Reed being elected by the membership to be his replacement marking three generations of family volunteerism to the Hale & Swisher IPM program.