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Cotton:
Beltwide Cotton Conferences Returning to San
Antonio
By T. Cotton Nelson
National Cotton Council of America
MEMPHIS, TN (July 28, 2008)
– The National Cotton Council-coordinated 2009 Beltwide Cotton
Conferences is set for January 5-8 at the Marriott Rivercenter/Riverwalk
hotels in San Antonio, TX. The forum will be held under a theme of
“Improving Our Farm, Future and World.”
 Bill
Robertson, the NCC’s manager, Agronomy, Soils and Physiology, said among
topics being considered for the Beltwide’s Cotton Production Conference
general session are: 1) energy management, 2) insect/weed management
and resistance, 3) a farm law update with an emphasis on the
conservation program component, 4) what’s in the technology pipeline,
including seed varieties, and 5) a cotton economic outlook.
“With the high cost of fuel, energy management has
become a major factor in several production practices and is affecting
overall profitability,” Robertson said. “Innovative energy conservation
practices and alternative energy sources should be of interest.”
Robertson said efforts will be made to make all
workshops more hands-on and geared toward producers. The Cotton
Consultants Conference that was initiated at the 2008 conferences in
Nashville will be continued.
“The roundtable discussions were one of the
highlights of the Consultants Conference,” Robertson said, “and we’ll be
looking at adding more roundtable discussions in the Production
Conference workshops to facilitate more questions being asked and more
interaction among growers from different regions. We want to bring the
hallway conversations into a roundtable format with experts facilitating
those discussions. For example, a grower in Texas may want to talk about
strip still farming face-to-face with a grower in the Southeast, where
that practice has been done for several years. We believe that
participating in these smaller roundtable discussions with more targeted
questions and answers will maximize attendees’ return on investment.”
Robertson said he has gleaned programming ideas from
the Conferences’ Technical Conference chairmen and will continue program
development after meetings with the Beltwide Cotton Conferences’
Steering Committee, the NCC’s American Cotton Producers and NCC staff.
General information about the 2009 Beltwide is at
the redesigned BWCC web site,
www.cotton.org/beltwide. Programming information, instructions for
meeting registration/housing reservations and other information will be
posted at that site later.
The 2008 BWCC Proceedings also are on that site. A
username and password are required to access the proceedings. NCC and
Cotton Foundation members can use the same username and password used to
access the NCC web site’s members only area. Questions should be
directed to Debbie Richter at 901-274-9030 or email:
beltwide@cotton.org.
The Beltwide Cotton Conferences’ overall objective
is sharing information among those with a stake in a healthy U.S. cotton
production sector, including industry members, university and USDA
researchers, Extension personnel, consultants and service providers. The
forum’s programming is designed to inform U.S. cotton producers about
innovative and effective technology and methods that can promote
viability in both the upcoming growing season and long-term.
The BWCC’s objective is in accord with the National
Cotton Council’s mission of ensuring the ability of all industry
segments to compete effectively and profitably in the raw cotton,
oilseed and U.S.-manufactured product markets at home and abroad.
# # #
2009 Beltwide Cotton Conferences, January 5-8,
Marriott Rivercenter/Riverwalk Hotels, San Antonio, TX. For more
information, contact: National Cotton Council, P.O. Box 2995, Cordova,
TN 38088 (901) 274-9030 FX (901) 725-0510 email:
beltwide@cotton.org
T. Cotton Nelson
Manager, Public Relations
National Cotton Council of America
7193 Goodlett Farms Parkway
Cordova, TN 38088-2995
ph (901) 274-9030
fx (901) 725-0510
cnelson@cotton.org
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