The Plains Cotton Growers conference room was busy on Thursday, March 7, as the Plains Cotton Improvement Committee (PCIC), consisting of growers, warehousers, merchants and researchers came together to discuss 2023 and vote on 2024 research projects. As PCIC Chair Barry Evans stated in his opening remarks, “We’re privileged to have this opportunity to come together and continue this great work.”
The great work began in the 1980s as High Plains cotton producers and industry came together to find a way to advance cotton’s potential in this region. Back then the reputation of High Plains cotton wasn’t what it has grown into today, which proves the legitimacy of this unique producer-funded research initiative called the Plains Cotton Improvement Program.
Eric Englund, producer in Lubbock County has served on PCIC since 2018. “We fight aggressive disease in our fields on my farm,” he added. “The continual effort to improve cotton seed varieties is one of the biggest benefits for me as a producer.”
Englund’s two main battles are nematodes and fusarium wilt. He works with Terry Wheeler to identify problem areas and treat them accordingly. If not addressed, nematodes can kill his yields.
“If we plant a non-resistant variety then by the time the plant is six inches tall, it’s dead,” he said. “We’ll lose the entire crop without a nematode resistant variety.”
Jonathan James, producer in Crosby and Floyd Counties, has also served on PCIC since 2018. “It’s important to me to see the future in seed development and disease research,” he said. “We deal with verticillium wilt and emergence issues with our cotton, so I find value in participating in the Regional Agronomic Cotton Evaluation trials.”
At the conclusion of the meeting, the committee voted to fund 2024 research projects for a total of $440,500.