Moving The Needle on Precision In Cotton

I had the opportunity to sit in the afternoon sessions of the cotton precision researcher meeting while here at the Beltwide Cotton Conferences in Orlando. When I first started covering precision agriculture 13 years ago as a relative newby to agriculture in general, it was puzzling to me that a complex and input-rich crop like cotton would lag in technology adoption. And while I came to understand some of the reasons why the uptake of technology would be a slower build than the Midwest, I could also clearly see the potential benefits precision products and practices could bring.

So it was good to hear about all the progress being made in cotton-focused precision agriculture. Dr. Ed Barnes, director of agricultural and environmental research at Cotton Incorporated, led a discussion that included research presentations and robust discussion ... in addition to a lot of great ideas. Below are some of my key takeaways from the meeting.

1. Yield monitor progress. Dr. Barnes was gracious enough to go on camera and recount some of the key discussion points from the meeting about yield monitor progress. He's excited that harvesting equipment from Case IH and Deere now come equipped with yield monitors essentially standard, and even if growers don't specifically request the yield monitor the fact that it's a part of the equipment will entice more growers to try using it ... and eventually learn to take full advantage of it. Dr. Barnes makes some other observations about the benefits of yield monitors. I invite you to check out the video.

2. Irrigation Control. Irrigation is growing in popularity in the Cotton Belt, and is leading to research to determine how to optimize irrigation in terms of timing and quantity. Manufacturers such as Reinke and Valley have released high end irrigation control systems that utilize GPS and wireless technology to optimize control, and it's being adopted rapidly in irrigation-intensive areas of the country. When irrigation recommendations are more clearly understood, the technology to implement it will be ready.

3. "Swath" Control For Planters. With the proliferation of automatic steering in cotton, which Dr. Barnes estimates at about half of all cotton growers owning it, it makes sense to find as many uses as possible for the technology. The ability to control the planting of cotton -- in particular in inland areas where rows often criss-cross and overlap -- appears to provide significant benefits. One research presentation by Dr. Mike Buschermohle from the University of Tennessee showed that overlapping and crossing rows lead to lower yield. But it was not due to reduced plant vigor that occurs in a crop like corn, but because the picker can't handle harvesting the mess of cotton plants in the overplanted areas. The picker would have to go over the area a second time to get the left-behind lint, a real efficiency drag. Technology that would automatically turn a planter off when passing through non-target and overlapping areas could provide significant benefit.

That's just the headline news as I see it ... there's certainly more out there and more to come. Thanks to Cotton Incorporated for inviting us to sit in. Stay tuned to Cotton247.com and PrecisionAg.com for ongoing coverage.