Tennessee

Cotton Acres Projected to Slide Again in 2026 as Economic Pressures Mount

Wed, 18 Feb 2026 21:02:53 GMT

The U.S. cotton industry is bracing for another year of contraction as a “perfect storm” of high production costs, sluggish global demand, and stiff competition from alternative crops pushes producers to rethink their acreage.

According to the National Cotton Council’s (NCC) 45th Annual Early Season Planting Intentions Survey , U.S. cotton producers intend to plant 9.0 million cotton acres this spring, a 3.2% decline from 2025. While a 3% dip might seem modest in isolation, it follows a massive 17% reduction in acreage last year, signaling a sustained and sobering period of tough economic times for the industry.

And considering cotton producers lost, on average, more than $300 per acre last year, another year of declining acreage comes as little surprise to those in the industry, as some fear if the economist situation doesn’t change for cotton, more producers could exit farming in 2026.

The Economic Squeeze: Why the Shift?

In a recent interview on AgriTalk with host Chip Flory, NCC President and CEO Dr. Gary Adams highlighted the mounting pressure on farm balance sheets.

“Times are tough,” Adams says. “Prices have been declining and costs of production have continued to stay at high levels. It really is starting to mount up on producers in terms of the balance sheet for their farming operations.”

The survey reflects a strategic shift across the Cotton Belt. With cotton prices struggling to compete with the current markets for corn and soybeans, many growers are opting for crops with lower overhead.

“In a lot of cases, they’re looking at soybeans as an alternative, in part because of its lower cost of production than what you see in cotton,” Adams notes. This “flight to safety” is a direct response to the high-risk, high-reward nature of cotton in an era of volatile input prices.

Farmers Are Walking Away From Cotton

For Charles Williams, a farmer in Crawfordsville, Ark., he’s seen what multiple years of losses can do to an industry. Cotton is a cornerstone crop in his area, with the infrastructure reliant upon that single crop. But growing cotton also comes with specialized, expensive equipment that’s become almost too costly to own, especially with today’s cotton prices.

“We’ll continue to plant some cotton, at least as much as we did last year,” he says. “Our production last year is half of what it historically is, so we’ll be 50% to 60%, maybe 65% of what we historically plant with cotton,” he says.

Because these farmers have cotton equipment to pay for, equipment that can only do one thing, which is pick cotton, walking away isn’t an easy choice. Williams also is an owner of a gin. So, he says he’s only planting enough cotton to justify the equipment and the gin, but not any more than that. Why? He simply can’t afford to.

Inside the Survey: A Coast-to-Coast Breakdown of 2026 Intentions

The NCC’s annual survey, a massive data-collection effort mailed to producers across the 17-state Cotton Belt in January, provides a granular look at how farmers are shifting their strategies. And when you break it down by region, it shows where the most severe economic pressures could be.

Mid-South: The Sharpest Decline

The Mid-South is bracing for the most dramatic shift, with total intentions down 20.6% to 1.2 million acres.

Arkansas & Missouri: These states are seeing the steepest cuts, with Arkansas down 30.3% and Missouri down 25.0%.
The Outlier: Louisiana stands against the trend, with growers expecting to plant 17.1% more cotton.

Southeast: A Broad Pullback

Respondents in the Southeast indicated a 4.9% decline in total acreage, falling to 1.6 million acres, with more of a shift toward corn and soybeans.

Georgia: Growers expect to reduce acreage by 3.6% to 805,000 acres—a historic low. This marks only the fourth time in 30 years that Georgia has dipped below the 1.1-million-acre threshold.
Significant Drops: Virginia leads the decline at 17.9%, followed by South Carolina (10.5%) and North Carolina (6.0%).

Southwest: A Patchwork of Growth

Bucking the national trend, Southwest growers intend to plant 1.6% more cotton.

Kansas & Oklahoma: Kansas is looking at a 9.6% increase at the expense of wheat and soybeans, while Oklahoma is charging ahead with a 15.7% increase.
Texas: The nation’s largest producer remains relatively flat with a 0.4% increase. However, internal shifts are happening: West Texas is reporting a slight uptick, while the Blacklands region intends to pivot toward sorghum.

The West: Upland Down, ELS Up

In the West, the story is a tale of two cottons. While Upland cotton acreage is expected to decline by 7.2%, with New Mexico seeing a sharp 17.6% drop. Extra Long Staple (ELS) cotton is seeing a resurgence.

Looking Ahead: A New Safety Net With Long-Term Gains vs. Short-Term Pain

Despite the projected acreage drop, Adams points to several reasons for long-term optimism rooted in the latest Farm Bill provisions. The industry is just beginning to see the “heavy lifting” done by recent legislative wins, though the timing of the relief remains a challenge for growers facing immediate bills.

Key improvements to the safety net, according to Adams, include:

Reference Price Hikes: A 14% increase in reference prices for seed cotton under Price Loss Coverage (PLC) and Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) programs.
Enhanced Insurance: Significant improvements to the Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO), including an increase in the premium subsidy to 80%.
Program Synergy: For the first time, growers can utilize these area-wide insurance products alongside PLC enrollment, providing a multi-layered defense against market drops.

“The combination of those two programs for 2026 and beyond will give growers better risk management, better price support, and a better safety net under them,” Adams explains.

However, there is a catch: the lag in payment distribution. Growers must navigate the 2026 planting season and its associated expenses before the support from the 2025 crop arrives this October.

Reclaiming the Market: “Plant, Not Plastic”

To combat the acreage slide and sagging prices, the NCC is aggressively pursuing new legislative and promotional avenues to bolster domestic and global demand.

The first is the “Buy American Cotton Act,” a proposal to offer tax credits to brands and retailers that document the use of U.S.-grown cotton.

“We purchase roughly 20 million bale equivalents of cotton textile products... but only about 4 million bales of that is actually U.S. cotton,” Adams says. The act aims to incentivize “dirt to shirt” production within the U.S., potentially reshoring a textile industry that has largely moved overseas.

The industry is also leaning into the sustainability movement with its “Plant, Not Plastic” campaign. This initiative targets the growing consumer concern over microplastics found in synthetic fibers like polyester.

“Cotton is a healthy alternative,” Adams says. He noted that the industry’s message is gaining traction at the highest levels, even reaching the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) commission, which recently highlighted the need for more study on the health impacts of synthetic microfibers.

Looking Ahead: The Path to Recovery for Cotton

While the 2026 outlook remains cautious, the industry is betting on a combination of legislative support and consumer education to turn the tide. By focusing on “nearshoring” opportunities in the Western Hemisphere and emphasizing cotton’s natural advantages over synthetics, the NCC hopes to create a more resilient market for the years to come.

The goal is to build demand at hone while changing behavior of brands and retailers. If they start using U.S. cotton instead of polyester or cotton from another country, there is hope for the future of cotton demand.

Preserving the Future: How Tennessee is Protecting Farmland While Driving Development

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:58:52 GMT

How is Tennessee, one of the fastest-growing states in the country, balancing economic development while still protecting farmland? Gov. Bill Lee says it’s one of the state’s greatest challenges, but he believes there is a way to do both.

Last year, Lee signed the Tennessee Farmland Preservation Act into law, tasking the Tennessee Department of Agriculture with developing a grant program to incentivize farmland owners to voluntarily enroll their land in a permanent conservation easement.

“We lose 9 acres an hour to development,” Lee said at the 2026 Top Producer Summit . “We recognize that agriculture is our No. 1 driver of our economy, so we have to preserve farmland. This act will incentivize farm property, and agriculture property in particular, to be put in land trusts so it can never be developed. This effort has been widely accepted by farmers and is beginning to take effect.”

Where is the Push for Economic Development in Tennessee?

Although economic development is taking place in many different forms, the state of Tennessee is seeing a big push for data centers. For some farmers, this could be the revenue generator they’ve been waiting on, but for others, it’s a contentious issue.

“If we are going to have a data center, it has to work for all of us,” Lee says. “Most important is that the impact on the grid for power is one that our state can effectively manage.”

He believes the data centers and the companies behind them should be partners with the state and with regulatory bodies.

“They should come in and say, ‘If we’re going to come here, this is what we will deliver to the state,’” Lee says. “Besides just the investment in dollars and what they will take from the grid, how will they deliver to the state?”

AI, a major data center and supercomputing facility in Memphis, is an example of a good partnership, he says.

“They are producing their own power and contributing to the grid. It’s a great partnership and model for things that we should be looking for in the future,” Lee adds.

How is Tennessee Helping Farmers?

Tennessee crop farmers are feeling pain right now like their peers across the country.

“It’s a tough environment for crop farmers,” Lee says. “We’ve seen the staggering losses some of our producers have experienced. But they’re very resilient people. They know that a few years ago, crop prices were good. Right now, they’re really bad. A lot of patience is required in farming, and they know that.”

Stability and predictability are nearly impossible to have in agriculture, he says. But he’s working to help provide stability and predictability from a federal standpoint through ag policy efforts.

“I think that’s what farmers look for more than anything,” Lee says. “They don’t want a rescue or an immediate solution to the problem they have. I think farmers want some indication of what stability looks like and what predictability looks like and what they can expect in the future.”

From a livestock standpoint, Tennessee has been investing heavily in the development of more local processing options.

“We do believe that locally sourced products are helpful to our own ag community,” he says. “To the degree that we can facilitate that in this state, we ought to do it. We’ve broadly expanded our ability to process beef in this state. We’re not nearly where we need to be, but we’re headed in the right direction.”

Creating a Pipeline for Agriculture

Lee is passionate about thinking about the future and creating pathways for skilled trades, especially in the agriculture industry. His experience running a company in the skilled trades business — plumbers, pipefitters, electricians and welders — has helped him see the need firsthand.

“One of the most important things we can do is recognize that kids’ giftings are really different,” Lee says.

Lee’s passion to better meet the demand for skilled labor came to fruition through the Governor’s Investment in Vocational Education (GIVE) Act.

“It created, initially, a $1-million program in high schools for vocational, technical and agricultural education programs,” he says. “It led to $500 million in middle school career and technical education programs, and ultimately $1 billion in our colleges of technology that deliver ag education, technical education and vocational education. We have removed the waitlist for our colleges of technology. We’re delivering 10,000 more workers a year who are skilled tradesmen.”

He believes it’s one of the reasons Tennessee has so many global companies making the decision to come to the state.

“We have a lot of activity here economically because the state with the workers is going to win every time,” Lee says. “We started seven years ago by creating a workforce that was much more diverse than what it had been previously, and that includes agricultural education.”

As a cattle producer and proud Tennessean, Lee says he’s most proud of how he’s helped support the state’s future in agriculture by investing in youth and the technologies that will be the future.

“It will be fun for me to look back years from now and say, ‘I’m really glad we did that. Ag was No. 1 in Tennessee when I was there, and ag is still No. 1 in Tennessee now that I’ve been gone,’” he says. “That’s what I hope for.”

Why Machinery Pete Sees Used Tractor Values Coming on Strong, Plus Weekend Auctions To Watch

Wed, 08 Oct 2025 15:28:38 GMT

“Finding its footing” is the tag line Greg “Machinery Pete” Peterson uses to describe the current state of the tractor segment in the farm equipment auction world.

Pete is seeing value stabilization come into play after the used tractor class weathered a major drop in auction pricing last fall. It’s a boomerang effect on the heels of an aggressive push of used late-model tractors to auction by equipment dealers at the end of 2024. By proactively managing inventories last year, Pete says, dealers now are in a better inventory position and used tractor prices are bouncing back.

“The number of auctions through the [end] of September was up 14.5% versus last year, too,” Pete says. “I think that’s going to increase through the end of the year into early ‘26, just with the way the winds are blowing. Even though the number of auctions is up, we’re finding this footing because of what dealers did last year on this newer late model stuff.”

Pete’s Pick of the Week shows used tractor prices are on the upswing:

(Machinery Pete Facebook)

At a Witcher Auctions two-day consignment sale in Arkansas last week, a like-new, full factory warrantied 2022 Massey Ferguson 4710 tractor with a loader (with only 5 operating hours!) sold for $45,495. That’s the highest price Pete has recorded in 2025 for a used 4710.

“There was a note on the Massey, and it just said, you know, the dude had bought it and then just, just didn’t use it,” Pete says. “And you know, it sounds funny – a two-year-old tractor with five hours on it – but I do run across those situations a fair amount more [often].”

A pair of tractors sold in a recent Big Iron online auction also caught Pete’s eye:

(Big Iron Auctions)

A 2024 John Deere 8R250 with 1,897 hours on it sold for $185,500. Pete says that’s the highest auction price all-time for a 8R250 with over 1,500 hours.

(Big Iron Auctions)

And a 2023 John Deere 6R155 4WD model with 693 hours sold for $167,500.

Upcoming Auctions

On Saturday, October 11 in North Carolina, Rich & Rich Auctioneers is hosting a “Carolina Red Dealer Inventory Reduction” sale that brings together machinery inventories from Case IH dealers, B&S Enterprises and Carolina Agri Power. Pete is keeping tabs on a low-hour, low-profile Farmall 105 A loader tractor featured in that sale.

Another notable sale Pete thinks may be worth your attention is also taking place on Saturday: the James R. Cash Auctions & Real Estate Jernigan Farms equipment auction near Springfield, Tenn. Pete is watching a John Deere 8130 tractor and a Claas LEXION 670 walker combine in that sale.

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Machinery Pete Goes Deep on Retro Farm Equipment With Pick of the Week

Tue, 30 Sep 2025 18:47:31 GMT

Whether it’s an old John Deere combine that grandpa ran for decades or a shiny orange Allis-Chalmers tractor that’s been in the family for generations, vintage farm equipment is a big draw on the auction circuit. The appeal of classic machinery is equal parts nostalgia, old-school craftsmanship and practicality.

This week’s Pete’s “Pick of the Week” selection is a pair of notable classic iron deals:

(Machinery Pete Facebook)

At a Rich & Rich Auctioneers sale in North Carolina, a narrow-front Farmall 806 tractor sold for a remarkable $16,000. That’s almost $10,000 over the average auction price, although Pete does mention that two similar 806s (one a rare front-assist model) sold for over $24,000 in recent months.

At the same Tar Heel State auction, a 1988 International Harvester 4586 four-wheel drive tractor sold for $24,250, which Pete says is the second-highest auction price of all time.

And most people that have been to a farm equipment auction know there are all sorts of machinery types that land on the docket apart from your usual mix of tractors, combines and sprayers.

(Machinery Pete Facebook)

At a Richie Bros Auction in Tennessee, a 1923 Ford Model T Snowmobile farm truck, which Pete called a “quirky unit” due to it having front skis and rear tracks, sold for $30,000.

And a pre-1920s (Pete wasn’t sure on the exact year) Buckeye 1081 Traction Ditcher sold for $10,500 in St. Charles, Mich., last Tuesday.

Oct. 1 Auction

Pete says the Kiko Auctions “Clean Late Model Equipment” sale in Ohio on Wednesday, Oct. 1, has a solid mix of heavy construction and farm equipment from Case IH, John Deere and New Holland available to bid on. You can check that sale out here.

From Omaha to Georgia: Inside the Farm Machinery Reshoring Boom

Wed, 25 Jun 2025 19:04:17 GMT

After releasing our “Where Farm Equipment Is Made” 2025 update in February , we circled back with farm equipment manufacturers to get a read on how tariffs will affect where machines are made.

Many companies across a wide range of industries are considering or even moving forward with plans to reshore production from overseas back into the United States. We’ve learned this process involves long-term, strategic investments in new facilities and/or expanding factories already established here in the States.

Although each manufacturer shared differing visions for how, when and where it plans to build out additional manufacturing capabilities in the years ahead, a common theme did emerge: farm equipment builders are investing big dollars into reshoring, and many have been for quite some time now.

Let’s hear what the machinery companies are planning:

AGCO Corp.

(AGCO Corp.)

The Duluth, Ga.-based equipment manufacturer says its dedication to American farmers and its own strategic investment plans are “key drivers of our overall growth strategy,” according to an AGCO spokesperson.

The rest of the statement from AGCO, which builds the Fendt and Massey Ferguson equipment brands along with its own AGCO machines, regarding U.S. expansion plans can be found below:

Since 2020, we have invested just under $3 billion in the U.S. across new and expanded manufacturing facilities, product innovations and the largest ag tech deal in the history of the industry. Our commitment has extended across our various brands, locations and Research & Development (R&D) efforts, including the notable 2024 joint venture establishing Colorado-based PTx Trimble, the inauguration of Fendt Lodge – the North American headquarters of Fendt – in Minnesota, a new precision ag production facility in Illinois, modernization of systems and technologies in one of our Kansas plants, and U.S.-based R&D for new sprayer and planter technology.

These investments, AGCO says, will not only enhance production at its U.S. facilities for years to come, but also ensure AGCO remains at the forefront of ag innovation around the world.

Claas

(Matthew J. Grassi)

Claas is still a somewhat fresh face to the North American farm equipment market, but the company has deep roots in Europe. It was founded over 100 years ago in a small German farming town, and today the company has global headquarters in Harsewinkel, Germany.

But you may not be aware that Claas has also built a significant manufacturing operation in America’s heartland. The company opened its Lexion combine production campus, located just south of downtown Omaha, Neb., in 1997. This year marks 10,000 Lexion combines rolling off the main production line inside the 120,000 sq. ft. facility.

(Photos: John Deere, Matthew J. Grassi, AGCO, Kubota)

Claas has significant expansion plans in place for its Omaha campus, including doubling its overall production footprint for the main manufacturing building as well as adding a new training and apprenticeship building.

Here is the statement Matthias Ristow, president & managing director of business administration – Claas Omaha, shared regarding the company’s expansion plans:

Claas is investing significantly in its production hub in the United States, and not only recently. Over the last five years, we have added to our production facility to provide a better location for our rework and reconfiguration areas, as well as a dedicated work area for our quality control department for the pre-delivery inspections each machine must go through before being shipped. This is part of our comprehensive quality assurance program.

We also have built a new service academy where we train all the technicians from our U.S. dealer network (we have a similar location in Canada) so we can keep their skills up to date and make sure they have the proper certifications to work on our machines. Technology updates and changes are trained there as well.

Furthermore, our new service academy houses our apprenticeship program where we train the future assembly technicians in a three-year rigorous training program, managed by the German Chamber of Commerce. The program has several advantages. Technicians receive a regular paycheck (“earn while you learn”), receive an associate’s degree from a community college we partner with, receive a certificate from the German Chamber and have a job when they graduate from the program debt free.

Farm Journal recently had the opportunity to tour Claas’ Omaha operation, where we learned the manufacturer is also expanding its partnerships with domestic material and component manufacturers. For example, it recently began working with a finished parts supplier local to Nebraska to fabricate the grain spout for each Lexion combine.

CNH Industrial (Case IH and New Holland)

(CNH Industrial)

Although short on specifics, CNH Industrial (Racine, Wisc.) confirms it plans to “continue to expand our footprint through capital investments in our U.S. facilities, partnerships with local suppliers and programs that strengthen the communities where we live and work.”

CNH adds it currently employs more than 9,000 people across 17 U.S. states, with 14 manufacturing facilities and 22 R&D centers active throughout North America.

And approximately 70% of the components used in CNH Industrial’s U.S. plants are sourced from domestic suppliers while 95% its steel is purchased from U.S.-based mills. It says this approach to domestic material sourcing supports thousands of suppliers’ jobs and reinforces its investment in American-made quality.

John Deere

(John Deere)

The farm equipment manufacturer with global headquarters in Moline, Ill., was first to share its future investment plans with Farm Journal. Back in May, the company announced a 10-year, $20 billion outlay plan for its U.S. production base. This year alone, Deere says it will pour $100 million into its U.S. operations.

John Deere says this initiative includes:

A 120,000 sq. ft. expansion of the company’s remanufacturing facility in Missouri.
Construction of a new excavator factory in Kernersville, N.C.
Expansion of its Greeneville, Tenn., turf equipment factory.
New assembly lines for 9RX high-horsepower tractor production in Waterloo, Iowa.

John Deere plans to invest a total of $22.5 billion into its U.S. manufacturing network once the 10-year project is complete.

Kubota North America

(Kubota North America)

Kubota Tractor Corporation (KTC) established its North America headquarters in Grapevine, TX., in 2017. The Japanese equipment manufacturer shared the following statement regarding U.S. expansion plans.

North America is critical for Kubota, and the U.S. is our largest market. We firmly believe in local production for local consumption and have made more than $1 billion in U.S. infrastructure investments in the last couple years to meet the growing needs of our dealers and customers. For example, we recently announced the opening of a new loader facility in Gainesville, Ga., (invested $190 million), a new Western Distribution Center in California (invested $72 million), and an R&D facility (invested $100 million) that’s also in Georgia. We have other network investment announcements in the works, and we plan to continue to invest over the next five to 10 years as we respond to market demands. Today, we are more than 7,000 American workers strong who market and sell, and fabricate, weld and assemble equipment with domestic and global parts.

Want to learn more about where your favorite farm machines are made? Check out “From the Factory to Your Fields: Where Farm Equipment Is Made”.

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Corn Planting is Now Already Underway in 7 States

Tue, 09 Apr 2024 17:02:05 GMT

The second Crop Progress Report of the year from USDA shows farmers are already ahead in planting the 2024 crop. As of Sunday, USDA indicates planting the 2024 crop has started in seven states, and six of the seven states are already beating the five-year average.

Highlights of the weekly progress report include:

59% of Texas’ corn is in the ground, two percentage points ahead of the five-year average but one point behind a year ago.
7% of the corn crop in Tennessee is planted, two points above average and three points ahead of last year.
7 % of Missouri’s corn is planted, four points ahead of average and two points quicker than last year’s record pace.
5% is planted in Kentucky, two points ahead of the five-year average but one point behind last year.
4% of the corn in Kansas is planted, one point ahead of average and one point behind last year.
2% of Illinois’ corn crop is in the ground, one point quicker than average and last year.

Related News: Spring Planting Progress Off To A Good Start

The only state trailing the average pace is North Carolina where 8% of the crop is in the ground, one point behind average and last year.

A year ago, hints were starting to roll in about just how early the planting season could be for farmers in parts of the Corn Belt. After April and early March were dominated by cold temperatures, as well as rain and snow in 2023, drier conditions took hold, and forecasts for milder temperatures and dry weather opened a large window for planting.

As of April 9, 2023, USDA’s second planting progress report of the season showed 3% of the nation’s corn crop was planted, up one percentage point from the previous week, previous year and the five-year average.

Highlights of the state-by-state breakdown a year ago showed:

61% of Texas’ corn is in the ground, three percentage points ahead of the five-year average.
12% of North Carolina’s corn crop is planted, two points behind average.
7% of the corn crop is Missouri is planted, four points ahead of the five-year average.
6% of the crop in Kansas is in the ground, up two points from average.

Back to present day, and the weather looks prime for planting to continue this week. Growers across Illinois, Iowa and Missouri are talking about starting to plant this week if the forecast holds.

Photos of Planting Progress So Far

In Texas, farmers were planting under the solar eclipse. Ale Frick says they survived the eclipse, and soybean planting continues on their farm.

Well, we‘ve officially survived #eclipse24 #soybean #plant24 continues pic.twitter.com/cnn3BphUpC
— Ale Frick (@Engineer_Farmer) April 8, 2024

In northwest Iowa, at least one farmer took the opportunity to plant over the weekend.

Well, ok then. #plant24 #nwiowa pic.twitter.com/nVMWcaO9wH
— Punkin Lady 🎃🍿💥 (@AmySolsma) April 5, 2024

Also in Iowa, more reports of planters starting to roll this week, according to Dusty Rich.

Planters will roll this week in our area! Wishing everyone a safe and successful #plant24
— Dusty Rich 🇺🇸 (@drich82) April 8, 2024

We want to see how planting is progressing in your area. Make sure to keep AgWeb updated with Crop Comments throughout the season.

West Tennessee Farmer Says He Just Harvested the Best Cotton Crop of His Life

Tue, 05 Dec 2023 14:55:25 GMT

Walk into cotton fields across West Tennessee this year, and you’ll step into a snapshot of what 2023 produced.

“This year we’ve got the potential to make a really good cotton crop in Tennessee,” says Brad Williams, who farms near Burlison, Tenn.

Williams is a farmer, a gin owner and an avid cotton advocate. Williams has been farming for nearly 30 years, with an integrated operation that relies on cotton. He says this year’s crop is one to remember.

“This crop never really struggled at all this year,” he says. “Even on warm or the hot days that we’ve had, it never wilted any. It looked exceptional all year.”

Ideal Growing Conditions

He says as the cotton pickers swept across his fields, they confirmed his assumptions of a phenomenal crop, and one with a night-and-day yield difference from last year’s disappointing harvest.

“Last year was a pretty tough year; probably one of the toughest in my career,” says Williams. “We stayed exceptionally dry the month of July with 100-degree heat. I think we even set a record with 14 days of 100-plus degrees and no rainfall; cotton was really struggling to survive.”

After a year of struggles in 2022, this year’s crop reaped weather that was much more favorable for growing cotton. Williams describes this year’s growing season as almost perfect.

“We have a lot of irrigated ground, and we were in no need of using the irrigation; we were fortunate that we didn’t have that expense in our crop this year,” says Williams. “We just had very ideal growing conditions this year. I haven’t had a season in 29 years where I’ve seen as good of growing conditions as we had this year.”

Williams says he is seeing yields at around 1,300 pounds of lint per acre. Last year, yields were between 900 and 950 pounds per acre. The prime growing conditions this year started at planting.

“Planting was pretty much on time this year, with very low pest populations in this crop. And we’ve been able to maintain this crop as I have pretty much weed-free,” he says.

Harvest came with drier weather, but the dry weather arrived at the prime time as no rainfall was good news for the quality of this year’s crop.

“We can make an exceptional crop and a good, high-quality crop, and that’s what we need to compete with the other cotton producing countries in the world,” says Williams. “I think we’ve got an exceptional, sustainable product. It’s out here; we just need a good, dry harvest from here on out.”

Weathering the Storm of Declining Infrastructure and Gins

Williams says cotton isn’t just what his family grows, it’s intertwined in everything they do on their farming operation.

“Cotton is our No. 1 crop. We have a cotton gin and cotton infrastructure in the warehouse and a cotton seed operation, also. We’re more kind of a vertically integrated operation, and cotton is our mainstay,” he says.

While cotton is a staple for their family, and one Williams continues to invest in, it’s an industry that continues to weather its own storms.

“In my career, we had around 830 gins nationwide when I started. I think that number is closer to 500 now,” he says. “At one time in Tennessee, we had 45 gins operating in the early 1990s. We’re down to six gins operating this year. So, the infrastructure is kind of fading away.”

As cotton continues to fight for acres, it’s a crop that comes with high risks and high rewards.

“Cotton is a riskier crop to grow. It’s an expensive crop to grow,” Williams explains.

Williams says despite the risks, he’s just thankful for such an exceptional crop this year. He says growing cotton in West Tennessee is an effort rooted in faith and the drive to persevere.

“I enjoy everything about growing cotton,” says Williams. “I enjoy the picking of it, the ginning aspect of it, producing the quality fiber that can be used around the world. There is something special and unique about cotton, and it’s a blessing to be able to do what we do.”

Southwest Georgia Weather Far From Ideal For Growing Cotton in 2023, Yet Harvest Yields a Nice Surprise for One Farmer

East-Central Texas Farmer Blown Away By Cotton Yields This Year

Four Startups Participate in AgLaunch Bootcamp in Knoxville

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 04:17:20 GMT

Four innovative startups have been selected to participate in the AgLaunch and Knoxville Entrepreneur Center agtech bootcamp this week being held on the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture campus in Knoxville. This is the first of two bootcamps AgLaunch will host as part of its Small Business Administration’s Regional Innovation Cluster Award. These teams represent innovations in the food and agriculture sector demonstrating next-generation approaches to creating sustainable farming systems of the future.

“We are proud to partner with AgLaunch and KEC on this event expanding UTIA’s role in providing interdisciplinary and entrepreneurial approaches to solving agriculture’s biggest problems through supporting the creation of new Tennessee companies,” said Dr. Tim Cross, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture.

Participating teams will have access to world-class mentors, entrepreneurial support, and most importantly, farmers and industry leaders. This year’s cohort of teams include:

Better Nature
The philosophy of Better Nature is to increase sustainability of urban and agricultural habitats through utilization of integrated pest management, basic ecological phenomena, and a suite of microbes that love and live with plants.

Foresight Chemistry
Foresight Chemistry is currently developing a scalable approach to produce lectins and glycans from natural feedstocks to unlock the potential of targeting proteins toward creating biological-based agricultural inputs.

Sustainable Fermentation Systems
A patent-pending device and process involving the recycling of fermentation off-gas for greenhouse CO2 enrichment, resulting in increased crop yields and productivity

Plow & Barrow
Plow & Barrow is a plant-based agrarian life and wellness company that provides ready-to-go plant-based meals, experiences and services to offer a holistic approach to human health.

This is the second year that KEC, UTIA, and AgLaunch have partnered to host this intensive bootcamp. Building off of the recent Small Business Administration’s Regional Innovation Cluster Award announcement, AgLaunch sees this continued work with KEC and UTIA as vital to support early-stage companies in the Mid-South region. This year’s itinerary includes one-on-one counseling with entrepreneur experts, alumni teams, and companies involved in emerging markets and crops.

“This cohort is unified around the concept of creating a full life-cycle in agriculture from soil health to human health, capturing emissions, and growing healthier plants,” said Pete Nelson, Executive Director of AgLaunch.

“The partnership with AgLaunch allows KEC to offer a world-class program to serve a crucial industry to the development of rural and urban Tennessee,” said Jim Biggs, Executive Director, Knoxville Entrepreneur Center.

The general public is invited to participate in the bootcamp by meeting the teams, learning more about AgLaunch, KEC, and UTIA, and networking with other agtech experts at the following event:

Bootcamp Keynote Luncheon
Friday, July 12, 2019 | 12:00 – 1:30 PM
UT Institute of Agriculture, 2506 River Dr., 136 Brehm Animal Science Building
RSVP HERE

After seven days of hard work, the AgLaunch Bootcamp startups will have the opportunity to demo their progress to a public audience. The luncheon will feature a keynote address by Karen LeVert, co-founder & CEO of Ag TechInventures (AgTI).

The Future of Ag Tech in the Midwest

Wed, 18 Nov 2020 02:53:17 GMT

The U.S. House Small Business Subcommittee on Agriculture, Energy and Trade discussed problems surrounding rural communities in the Midwest and solutions agricultural technology can continue to provide on Feb. 15, 2018.

The areas of improvement sought for Midwest ag tech include reaching young people, increasing funding and developing products that are acceptable to both farmers and consumers.

According to Sam Fiorelli, COO of the Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis, the development of new technology in agriculture has helped encourage young people to stay in or come back to rural communities.

“Young people who are tech savvy now have an outlet to put that love and understanding of technology to use in their communities,” says Fiorelli. “Imagine a kind of ‘Geek Squad’ in rural communities across America that can be deployed to help get a tech heavy piece of equipment up and running again in hours rather than days.”

Fiorelli says farmers and small businesses are also supported by ag tech innovation through open access to research centers’ core facilities like the Danforth Plant Science Center’s greenhouses. This helps small businesses gain access to research that would be costly for them to conduct on their own.

In order to continue improving rural communities, Kevin Kimle, director of the agricultural entrepreneurship initiative at Iowa State University, says there is still work to be done.

Kimle says improvements can continue through exposing more young people to the concept of entrepreneurship in high school and college and helping them find mentors who have done similar things.

Kimle also says developing more early stage funding and venture funds is crucial to furthering ag tech in the Midwest.

Outside of funding and education, a key part of getting technology in the hands of farmers is helping them see the value it brings to their operations says Peter Nelson, vice president of agricultural innovation at Memphis Bioworks Foundation and president of AgLaunch.

“Farmers have traditionally been at the forefront of developing & implementing new innovations and technologies,” says Nelson. “Over time, the role of the farmer in adopting new technologies, and this is key, has been one of customer rather than one as partner.”

Nelson says this change has created a disconnect between developers and producers. One solution the Memphis Bioworks Foundation has developed to solve this issue is the AgLaunch 365.

The program provides startup companies direct access to unbiased feedback through participating farmers. This helps improve products on the farm and ensures startups have greater success by solving technical issues early on.

However in order for ag tech to be successful in the future, new products must be acceptable to both farmers and consumers says Michael D. Fernandez, senior fellow at George Washington University Food Institute.

“The first generation of genetically engineered products was geared more toward farmers than to end consumers,” says Fernandez. “Consumers are evermore focused on food, what’s in it, where it comes from, how it’s produced and that trend isn’t going away. So the best way to build acceptance is to offer products that provide tangible benefits that consumers can embrace and be transparent about it.”

Converting Grassland Into Forests in Tennessee

Sun, 15 Nov 2020 20:59:30 GMT

It only takes a Tennessee landscape one generation to transform from a grassland to a thick forest, and that’s the hope of a new project by University of Tennessee’s Institute of Agriculture and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).

The groups are working diligently to restore oak trees at the Norris Dam, 25 miles from Knoxville.

Charles Denney from the UT Institute of Agriculture has the story on AgDay above.