种植美国重要的棉花作物
U.S. cotton growers rely on cooperative expertise to get the most from their cotton crop.
玉米, 大豆和小麦可能会成为美国农业的中心, 但棉花已经赢得了强有力的支持作用. As a key fiber in everything from T-shirts to toilet paper and much more, 棉毯覆盖着我们的日常生活.
To really shine, cotton demands star treatment, requiring intensive management all season long. From crop protection and in-season fertilizer applications to harvest aids, multiple inputs are needed to effectively manage a cotton crop from start to finish.
“Cotton likes to throw curveballs,” says Seth Byrd, a cotton specialist with 俄克拉荷马州立大学扩展. “你不能简单地种下庄稼就走人. Insect pests can rapidly cause irreversible damage to a cotton crop without proper scouting and control measures.”
合作社的棉花伙伴
“我们与棉花生产商的很多关系都是端到端的,杰森·克鲁纳说, 总部设在奥卡奇的CHS的总经理, 俄克拉荷马州. “我们的澳门皇冠赌场平台家帮助种植者制定作物计划, 引导他们做出初步的决定, make timely agronomic decisions based on plant conditions and weather, 并最终看到作物通过开始的过程.”
Working with the cooperative team provides reassurance in decision-making and a sounding board to discuss new ideas and strategies, 内森·克鲁茨格说, 俄克拉荷马州西南部的第二代棉花生产商. “I rely on my CHS agronomist to be another set of eyes on my fields. Having this relationship with a trusted agronomist gives me confidence in the management decisions I make for my farm.”
Kroener says adding the Red River Cotton Gin to CHS assets in March 2020 completed the journey for the cotton producers his team works with. “Acquisition of the cotton gin gave us access to a different crop market. We couldn’t fully support the end-to-end cotton cycle before the gin. Now we’re partners from seed selection through the ginning process.”
棉花生产的进展
After invention of the cotton gin in the late 1800s, the industry boomed. But it didn’t take long for pests such as the boll weevil to put a damper on cotton yields. To mitigate losses, Bt cotton was introduced to manage insect damage.
伯德说:“现在95%以上的棉花都是bt性状的。. That added control helps reduce some crop protection application needs. 其他澳门皇冠赌场平台上的进步也给生产者带来了回报.
Four products in particular are showing great results in the field. “Bollbuilder® provides micronutrients that help retain bolls on the cotton plant,威廉·罗素说, 农艺技术专员, CHS. “Levesol® Zinc is a unique chelation product that prevents micronutrients from being tied up in the soil with phosphorus. The chelating process helps make micronutrients and phosphorus more available in the soil for uptake and plant growth.”
佐剂 Level Best®和Tapran™非常适合用于棉花植株, 马克·莫里斯说, 他是CHS团队在俄克拉荷马州的农艺销售经理. “We’ve seen great success using Level Best to help cotton producers control weeds. Tapran provides more consistent desiccation and defoliation for more efficient harvesting.”
虽然种子性状和基因组研究取得了进展, 太, 最大的变化发生在收获方法上.
Growers can choose between two types of machinery to harvest their crop: cotton pickers or cotton strippers. 摘棉工把棉花从棉铃上摘下来, 而剥棉工则把整个棉铃扯下来, 然后把棉花和棉铃分开.
一旦棉花没有了棉铃和多余的植物, 它被压成长方形或圆形的棉花模. 一个长方形的棉模组重约18磅,000磅, while a round module — which consists of four round bales — weighs about 20,000磅.
“There has been rapid movement away from conventional rectangular cotton modules to round cotton modules,克鲁纳说. Creating round modules allows producers to operate more efficiently and independently, with less worry about having enough labor during harvest to get the job done.
“Investing in a round module machine has made a big impact on my farm,” says Kreutziger. 在使用圆形模块构建器之前, I would have three to five machines running in my field during harvest, 这需要很多人来操作这些机器. Now I can keep the round module builder running with just one person and I can run day and night if I need to.”
U.S. 棉花生产商准备成功
The domestic cotton industry has positioned itself to consistently be among the leaders in producing the best quality cotton.
“U.S. cotton growers are on the cutting edge of new technologies,” says Byrd. “这使我们在全球市场上处于竞争地位, 这反过来又为生产者提供了一种有利可图的作物.”
当克鲁齐格展望他的棉花业务的未来时, 他对物价稳定和市场稳定抱有希望. “棉花种植有很多机会, 但我们的成功取决于投入成本和天气,他说. “My goal is to continue producing cotton to keep the world clothed.”
轧棉过程
- Module haulers pick up cotton modules in the field and take them to the cotton gin.
- Each module receives a number for tracking purposes; cotton from multiple farms will be ginned together in the order the modules were received.
- Plastic wrapping is removed from cotton modules and the cotton is “chewed up” or fluffed.
- Cotton moisture is kept at a consistent level throughout the ginning process.
- Cotton moves through cleaners to remove burs, sticks and other field debris.
- 种子从棉纤维或棉绒中分离出来.
- 再次清洗毛线.
- Lint is pressed into 480-pound bales and wrapped in plastic for export.
- 棉花副产品被制成棉籽油, 牲畜饲料, 床垫填充物及其他材料.
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