Cotton was king!

Cotton was once king of the south, but that has changed throughout the years. Cotton is like a small child; it requires constant upkeep, tender care, and is expensive. Cost per acre can easily exceed $500 along the growing season. While I was in Arkansas I learned that just two short years ago, total cotton acres for the state was approximately 518,000. Today, Arkansas features about 350,000 acres. There are cotton gins across the south with worry on their face.

www.cotton.org states, "U.S. textile mills have spun almost 5 million bales of cotton on average for the past 3 years (2006-2008). That's enough cotton to make over 1 billion pairs of jeans."

I cannot stress how important cotton is. "One bale of cotton can make 1,217 men's T-shirts or 313,600 $100 bills." The crop is also responsible for the creation of an immense amount of biofuels. The United States historically exports about half our cotton to other countries around the world - imagine the money that brings into our economy!

Cotton has several growth stages. I am learning about them as we prepare for cotton defoliation season. Defoliation means taking all the leaves off the plant so that the cotton can be cleanly and easily harvested at maximum yields.

As you can see the flower blooms white, then turns red, and a cotton boll is revealed. The boll opens up over time and gives us mature cotton. Cotton can take anywhere from 130 - 160 days to complete this process.

Above is a picture of a boll weevil. "The boll weevil is the primary insect enemy of cotton. An adult is ¼ to ½ inch long, appearing tan to dark brown or gray in color, has a hard humpback-shaped shell and the characteristic snout accounting for about ¼ of its length. This pest has plagued U.S. cotton producers since 1892. It can complete an entire lifecycle in three weeks, lay 200 eggs per female–each in a separate cotton square or boll, ensuring the destruction of each–and spread rapidly, covering 40 to 160 miles per year. (www.cotton.org)"

Knowledge is power, folks!