2015 New Mexico Cotton Conference Report

The New Mexico Cotton Conference took place on January 14th, 2015 at the Ruidoso Convention Center, Ruidoso, NM. About 70 farmers and stakeholders attended the conference. Topics presented during the cotton conference included cotton economic prospects, pest and weed control in reduced tillage systems, weed control in cotton, potential insect pests for 2015 growing season, and glandless cotton research and production in New Mexico. Other topics covered included cotton breeding developments at NMSU, cotton ginning research update and NM cotton seed production and certification. Several industrial representatives also presented updates on new and current products available for cotton production. We thank our speakers/moderators for 2015. Our speakers/moderators included Mr. Doug Starr (Calcot); Mr. Dennis Neffendorf (Orthman Manufacturing); Dr. Carol Sutherland (NMSU); Mr. Woods Houghton (Eddy County, Ag. Agent); Mr. Greg Alpers (Dow AgroSciences); Dr. Jinfa Zhang (NMSU); Dr. Robert Flynn (NMSU); Dr. John Idowu (NMSU), Dr. Jane Pierce (NMSU) Dr. Tracey Carrillo (NMSU) Mr. Michael Ronquillo (NMSU) and Dr. Ed Hughs (USDA-ARS). We also appreciate the efforts of Dr. Patrick Sullivan and Mr. Bill Chambers of the NM Cotton Boll Weevil Control Committee for their help. We thank our sponsors who generously donated to make our 2015 meeting a success. Our donors for 2015 included Bayer CropScience, Dow AgroSciences-PhytoGen, Americot/NexGen Cotton, BASF, Calcot, Inc., Crop Production Services, All-TEX Seed, Dyna-Gro, Farm Credit of New Mexico, Gowan USA, Helena Chemical, Jess Smith, Mesa Farmers’ Cooperative, NMSU Seed New Mexico State University Extension Plant Sciences Cotton Newsletter: Volume 6, Number 1 (April 2015) 2 Certification, Pecos Valley Implement/John Deere, South Plains Implement/John Deere and West Gaines Seed and Delinting