Cotton producers from the Mid-South will travel to Southeast states, visiting operations in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida August 12-17 for the fourth and final tour of the 2007 Cotton Foundation Producer Information Exchange (P.I.E.) Program. The visiting producers will be exposed to the diverse and innovative practices of the hosting region, providing them with more competitive technology and farming methods.
The P.I.E. Program, now in its 19th year, fosters valuable communication between cotton producers and helps them gain new perspectives in land preparation, planting, fertilization, pest control, irrigation and harvesting. The overall goal of the Program is to improve yields and fiber quality in each participating region. After this year’s tours, the P.I.E. program will have exchanged more than 800 individual U.S. cotton producers.
Cotton Foundation President Clyde Sharp, a Roll, AZ, cotton producer and former P.I.E. participant, said the P.I.E. program gives its participants a great opportunity to see something they can take back to their operation and try.
He said after his tour in the Carolinas he was impressed with the crop diversity and the environmental conditions those producers contend with in planting the same cotton varieties he was planting. He said he also saw minimum tillage operations and was inspired to try that on his operation.
“And minimum till is developing slowly and surely out here in Arizona,” Sharp said. “I see more and more farmers incorporating that into their operations.”
Sharp, who met several producers during his Carolinas’ tour, also emphasized that the P.I.E. program provides participants a great opportunity not just to meet other producers but to make lasting friendships.
“I feel like I can call these growers anytime and pick their brain about anything,” he said.
This year, ten cotton producers from the Mid-South region will visit the Southeast. Participants include: Arkansas producers: Jed Anderson, Haynes; Dave Parten, Marianna; Nathan B. Reed, Marianna; and Chad A. Russell, Marianna. Louisiana Producers: Peter C. DeKeyser, Alexandria; and Patrick C. Glass, Newellton.
Mississippi Producers: Robert W. Farmer Jr., Cruger; and T. Michael Sides, Tunica; as well as Missouri producer Allen Below, Parma; and Tennessee producer David McDaniel, Brighton.
