Patience and curiosity are key to cotton grower's prosperity

By Jennifer M. Latzke

Seven years ago Stuart and Teri Briggeman made a decision that would change their family farming operation for years to come.

They planted their first few acres of cotton patches on their family ground just outside of Cullison, Kan.

"We were looking for something different, another alternative crop," Stuart Briggeman said. "We tried a little at first and it worked very well and it just grew from there." They began with an experimental 500 acres of cotton on dryland.

"After that first year's success I was curious what it would do under irrigation," Briggeman said. "So, the second year we planted some irrigated cotton and it did very well and we just expanded from there. We kept experimenting with planting rates and populations. We're still learning."

At first, Briggeman explained, he planted the crop too thin and through trial and error he's finally found a magic planting population that works on his farm. He typically plants a population of about 4,000 to 5,000 seeds per acre on irrigated ground and a little thinner on dryland ground.

So many choices

Briggeman has many venues of advice he can consult in choosing varieties. "We're still in a big learning process on what we can really do with cotton," he said. "You always pick up tidbits here and there. We get some information from the local gins, and from neighbors and other growers." Perhaps the best source of varietal information, though, comes from Briggeman's own test plots.

"Just about every year we've had a test plot and we continue to look at new varieties," he said. In years past he's planted Fibermax, Stoneville and AFD varieties.

"There are several companies with good cotton varieties for this area so there's a selection to choose from," he said. "Up here, in Kansas, we have to be careful with the length of season of our cotton. We need to plant an early to mid-season cotton in order for it to get to maturity. I have seen some longer season cotton planted, but it's really a gamble. If the late summer temperatures, around August and September, stay hot, it'll work. But you're really putting yourself at more risk with longer maturing cotton."

Lately Briggeman has looked into planting all of his cotton acreage to Roundup Ready Flex cotton varieties, simply because it would allow him to spray Roundup over the top of the cotton up until 10 days before harvest. This flexibility in production schedule would really benefit the Briggemans, who also grow corn and wheat and apply their own chemicals and must juggle the needs of their various crops.

"We don't have a lot of resistant weeds here, and I've always tried to rotate our crops," Briggeman said. Rotation of crops and biotech and non-biotech crops allows him to control weeds and pests in his fields and their resistance to the chemicals he uses.

Goals for the crop

Like any successful farmer, Briggeman sets production goals for his crops and cotton is no exception.

"We choose varieties for quality and quantity," he said. "But, it's just amazing what a difference it can make if you're looking at 47- to 48-cent cotton versus 56- to 58-cent cotton. I will give up a little poundage to get a better grade. But, I won't go to far, I might give up 100 to 200 pounds to get the better grade."

On average, Briggeman's dryland cotton brings from one and a third bales to two bales per acre, and his irrigated cotton will produce two and a half, to three and one-third bales per acre. "We saw quite a range of grades this year, but typically we had a 35 staple (fiber length) with colors usually in the 31 range," Briggeman said. "We had some very good micronaire and some low, and that can pull the grades down some. Most of our strengths, though, were in the 27 to 30 range."

The dry summer in southern Kansas, had at least one benefit--above normal heat units which are needed to mature cotton, he explained.

"Our quality is coming more from how we treat the cotton as it's growing," he added. "We just pay attention to it while it's growing." Briggeman explained he uses growth regulators to keep the plant compact and use its energy to put on bolls for a better crop.

A place in the rotation

On the Briggeman farm, cotton follows wheat on the dryland acres, and corn on the irrigated acres. While there's no specific data to back it up, Briggeman said he's personally seen some improvements to his wheat crop that follows cotton in the field. "I've talked with people who've grown cotton for years and it just does something to the soil, like soybeans improve the ground for corn the following year," he said. "Cotton does the same thing, I feel. I've seen better results on our corn because of our rotation of cotton and corn. Seems like it follows very well and gets a boost from the cotton."

The Briggemans ridge-till their irrigated ground and use conventional and minimum tillage on their dryland. All of their cotton is planted in either no-till or strip-till, he said, to conserve water. cotton in general, Briggeman added, works well in their limited water situation.

"Typically we'll run anywhere from five to seven or eight inches of irrigation on the cotton, depending on the rainfall, throughout the year," he said. "Some fields we go below five to eight inches of water."

One interesting benefit of growing cotton, Briggeman said, is that he and his crop consultant have seen an improvement in soil fertility. "I just talked with our consultant and we're seeing the fields are more even in fertility," he said. "We're not seeing such low depleted or high concentrated areas, they're all evening out."

Patience makes for better cotton

"Cotton takes patience," Briggeman said. Especially when you're trying to fit it into the rest of your farming timeframe. For example, he plants his cotton all through the month of May, a little sooner than most Kansas farmers.

"We bumped up our planting date trying to get a little quicker jump on the crop, getting it going so we can start getting those earlier heat units to get it to the maturity point sooner." Also, Briggeman likes to get his cotton planted before wheat harvest ramps up and takes up his time.

When fall rolls around, Briggeman has a bit of a break between his corn harvest and the beginning of his cotton harvest. And, since he also picks up some custom stripping work he has to balance the needs of his clients' crops with the needs of his own.

"If it's not ready, though, you just have to wait," he said. "Humidity really plays a big part in harvesting cotton."

A successful experiment

Looking back to that first cotton crop, Briggeman said there's really not a step the family would skip along the way. "We had to do what we've done so we have the knowledge," he said. Still, Briggeman said he's continually learning about the crop and will continue to tweak his production methods for success.

It just goes to show what a little perseverance and curiosity can do.

Jennifer M. Latzke can be reached by phone at 620-227-1807, or by e-mail at jlatzke@hpj.com.

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2/26/07

Date: 2/22/07

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