Pima and Acala Cotton Planted

Our tenant decided to plant both Pima and Acala cotton this past spring. He had planned on planting only Pima cotton, but one of the field's conditions had deteriorated during the early spring, prompting him to apply extra tillage and a pre-plant irrigation, which made planting Pima cotton on that field a dubious proposition. The result is that our tenant has 98 acres of Pima cotton, planted on April 17 and 18, and 48 acres of Acala cotton, planted on May 11. At the end of June, the progress of both the Pima cotton and the Acala cotton is very promising.

Acala and Pima Cotton

The Acala cotton is on the right, showing the perfectly straight rows provided by the GPS tractor guidance system. The Acala cotton, being planted 24 days later, is quite a bit smaller than the Pima cotton next to it.

Final 2004 Pima Price High, Despite Poor Grades

Our tenant placed his Pima cotton in Queensland Cotton's seasonal sales pool last year. The final payment was made at the end of June. Even though our tenant's Pima cotton had the worst grades ever, due to the unusually heavy rains of last autumn, the final price received was over $1.00 per pound. This has afforded our tenant a significant financial recovery from the dismal results of 2003. He has confided to this reporter that he has canceled his previous plan to move to Wyoming and become a cowboy.

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

Robert Sturgeon
Publisher, Editor, Reporter, Ace Photographer, Newsroom Flunky, Webmaster
rsturge@inreach.com
http://www.vistech.net/users/rsturge

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