Cotton harvest looking good in early stage

Harvest is well underway on what is being forecast as one of Custer County’s best cotton crops in many years.
Improved technology making cotton easier to farm has combined with good moisture during the growing season and good prices now to give cotton farmers a very optimistic outlook for the harvest that got underway about two weeks ago.
Malinda Freeman, executive director of the Custer County Farm Service Agency,  said Monday the county has a little over 11,000 acres of cotton this year. “In 2016 we were just short of 5,000 acres,” she said.
The story is the same in Washita County. Ms. Freeman said it has 41,000 acres this year compared to 20,000 last year.
“Ours obviously has a little more than doubled,” she said. “I think that’s the trend in most of southwestern Oklahoma.”
Ron Wright, Oklahoma State University Extension director for Custer County, said the futures price closed Thursday at $1.22 a pound. That was nearly double the 68 cents a pound being reported at the Midwest Farmers gin in Clinton. The futures price is based on what dealers speculate the price will be months down the road.
“It’s 50 to 60 cents a pound a lot of years,” said Wright. “Sometimes it’s 40 cents or even down to the 30s. Sixty-eight cents a pound is not too bad for cotton.”
And just as it’s been down in the 30s, Wright said it’s also been up over a dollar some years.
“The price of cotton is dictated by China,” he said. “They’re the biggest user of cotton in the world.”
A look at the tabs in most clothing and other cloth products tells why.
Shelia Fergason at Midwest Farmers said the gin here is anticipating most of the crop from Custer County’s 11,000 acres being brought here for processing.
“Almost 9,500 acres will be brought to this gin,” she said. “We had 5,567 bales last year. I’m saying we’ll have 13,500 this year, which would nearly triple any year we’ve had.”
The size of the equipment being used to harvest cotton now has increased even more than the size of the crop. Fergason said Midwest Farmers has upgraded by getting a second module truck.
Cotton which used to be processed a bale at a time is now being formed into big round bales that hold almost four of the older ones, or about 5,000 pounds, or in large rectangular modules which equate to about four of the big round bales.
At Monday morning’s county commissioner meeting, Lyle Miller speculated that one of the machines capable of cutting cotton in round bales costs upwards of $750,000. But he said he knew of one farmer in Tillman County who was able to harvest a quarter section of land in a day using one of the round cutters.
Ms. Fergason said Midwest Farmers will pick up the modules in the field. In fact, her manager, Rodney Sawatzky, was out as she was speaking.
“We’re doing about 145 bales a day,” she said.
There are other advantages to the big cutters.
“Round bale cutters are cleaner,” said Fergason. “They just get the cotton. They leave the trash there. A stripper (used to cut cotton in the old small-bale size) takes trash and all.”
Wright said the acreage planted to cotton is up so much this year not only because of improvements in equipment and technology but also because of better chemicals used in its treatment.
“One is Roundup Ready cotton,” he said. “They spray Roundup right over the top. It doesn’t hurt the cotton, and it kills the weeds.
“They’ve got 2-4D Ready cotton too,” he said. “They can spray 2-4D right over the top without hurting the cotton.”
Wright also mentioned “boll guard cotton,” which is resistant to the damage boll worms do.
“About all the farmers have to do is spray early for thrips (an insect which thrives on cotton),” he said. “Instead of spraying six or seven times, they spray once and it’s done.
“It’s gotten so much easier. Even though your seed costs $450 a bag, it helps so much on what you have to spray that it saves money in the long run.”
There are even chemicals to combat freezes, like the county experienced late last week.
“You get a freeze at the wrong time, it’ll lock the bolls and they never open,” said Wright. “Now they’ve got stuff they can spray on (that will make the bolls open, even after a freeze).”
Ms. Fergason at Midwest Farmers summed up the outlook. “It’s going to be an amazing year,” she said.

Trble with a stripper…putting some hot spots ojut last wek, just a rekindle from it….just noticed the back of it on fire, just dumped it to get it out where it don’t burng up his stripper…
2350 Rd…Doug Eyster  
Been c  68 cent not too bad for cotton…bn up over a dollar, price of ctn is deictated by china…they’re the biggest user of cotton in the world.
….
   
What’s just as  68 cents per lb, ctn sed 110 a ton, 175, Dec is 69 cents…
Whenever we sell it, if its good

Malinda Freeman, co executive director of the County Farm Service Agency, 323-0366
    More than yr before … 
How many acres of cotton in Custer County?
Washita?   2017, lit over 11,000 acres of county, for 2016 we had just short of 5,000 acres….
Ours obv litt more than doub, thk that’s a trend in most of sw okla….2016 Washita Co 20,000 acres and in 2017 41,000….
Well underway in….havent….
Gins 
Price by pound, call gin…
How many acres did we have last year?