August 30, 2024 • 23 mins
Do you know where your T-shirt got its start? In this episode, we travel to Tifton, Georgia, to speak with Camp Hand, assistant professor in the CAES Department of Crop and Soil Sciences and a key member of the UGA Cotton Team. Join us as we dive into the intricacies of cotton agronomy, the importance of UGA's experiment stations and the collaborative nature of the cotton industry in Georgia. Camp shares insights into the sustainable practices adopted by cotton growers, the critical role of research and the unique challenges that arise each year. The episode also touches on Camp's dedication to supporting farmers through difficult times, including efforts to address rural and farm stress.
Resources:
- University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Cotton Team
- CAES Research and Education Centers
- Rural Georgia: Growing Stronger website
- Thriving on the Farm interview with Camp Hand
- Talkin' Cotton podcast
Content from CAES:
- UGA Tifton Cotton Micro Gin (TikTok)
- Breaking stigma: Mental health solutions in farming and rural communities (podcast)
---
Produced by Jordan Powers and Emily Cabrera
Edited by Jordan Powers
Music and sound effects by Mason McClintock, an Athens-based singer, songwriter and storyteller who creates innovative soul-pop music that transcends traditional genre boundaries. Hailing from small-town Southeast Georgia, Mason's influences range from the purest pop to the most powerful gospel. Mason is a former Georgia 4-H'er and University of Georgia graduate! Listen to his music on Spotify.
Almanac is an annual publication that provides a window into the work being done at CAES to make the world increasingly healthy, equitable and sustainable. We are pleased to announce that the 2024 edition is now available online. Explore stories of science in service of humanity and the environment.
Get social with us!
Follow CAES on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn and check out UGA Extension on on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn for the latest updates.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Sound Effect (00:00):
[music]
Jordan Powers (00:00):
Welcome to Cultivating Curiosity, where we
get down and dirty with theexperts on all the ways science
and agriculture touch our lives,from what we eat to how we live.
I'm Jordan Powers.
Emily Cabrera (00:12):
And I'm Emily Cabrera. We're from the
University of Georgia's Collegeof Agricultural and
Environmental Sciences.
Sound Effect (00:19):
[chime]
Jordan Powers (00:20):
So Em and I made the trek today down to Tifton,
one of our favorite spots tocome and visit. And we are here
with Camp Hand, assistantprofessor in the CAES Department
of Crop and Soil Sciences andmember of the UGA Cotton Team.
Camp, thank you so much forhosting us down in Tifton.
Camp Hand (00:36):
Oh yeah, glad y'all came down. Everybody in Athens
is welcome to come to Tiftonanytime.
Jordan Powers (00:40):
And he means it too. Every time we come down
here, it is the best, well andwe're actually here in the
studio right now of Talkin'Cotton, your podcast,
Camp Hand (00:46):
Yup.
Jordan Powers (00:46):
Which we'll get into in a little bit. But before
we dive into some of thatcontent, let's start from the
top. You're a key member of theUGA Cotton Team.
Camp Hand (00:53):
Mmm-hmm.
Jordan Powers (00:53):
It's a highly collaborative, UGA Cooperative
Extension program that worksdirectly with growers, county
agents and industry partners.
How is this team uniquelypositioned to bridge these
spheres in supporting Georgia'snumber one agronomic crop?
Camp Hand (01:07):
I think it is so cool that we have so many people
covering so many aspects ofproduction. The fun part is that
we all work together, me andPhillip Roberts and John Snider.
Those are my closestcollaborators, you know. And so
we do a lot of work together,but it is a highly collaborative
team of folks. And so eventalking about some of the stuff
(01:27):
we've seen this year with cottonleaf roll dwarf virus, right?
You rope in Dr. Sudeep Bag, ourvirologist, Dr. Peng Chee, our
cotton breeder, Dr. Kemerait,our plant pathologist, Dr.
Roberts, our entomologist, DrSnider, our physiologist and me.
So, I mean, like we all talk ona pretty regular basis about
some of that stuff. It reallyjust creates an open line of
communication. We get togetherevery other month and cook lunch
(01:50):
at the gin, you know, and hangout and cut up and all this
stuff. But then we talk aboutthe crop, and it's like, "What
are y'all seeing? What's outthere?" You know, stuff like
that. It is a highlycollaborative team that really
cares about cotton production inthis state. It makes it a lot of
fun to have that, and that'ssomething that's very unique
here.
Sound Effect (02:07):
[chime]
Emily Cabrera (02:09):
When Camp talks about getting together at the
gin, he's referring to thecotton micro gin on the UGA
Tifton Campus. Despite the name,the micro gin is anything but
small. This facility housesseveral pieces of large
machinery that work together toremove seeds and other plant
debris from cotton. Researchersfrom UGA regularly send cotton
(02:30):
samples to the micro gin, wherethe staff evaluates the quality
and quantity of the cotton andshares that data with
researchers. The micro gin iscrucial to the cotton team's
mission to improve cottonproduction in Georgia. We'll
link to a video highlighting theUGA cotton team's micro gin in
the show notes.
Sound Effect (02:46):
[chime]
Camp Hand (02:49):
I'd interviewed for jobs whenever I was coming out
of graduate school or talked topeople at other institutions,
and they don't work that way.
That's what makes us so unique,is you talk to folks at other
institutions and they're like"Cotton Team, what'shat's that?"
It's kind of hard to explain,but it makes us very unique.
Jordan Powers (03:04):
It's just incredible to hear the brilliant
research minds coming together.
But then also, like having lunchat the gin, like...
Camp Hand (03:09):
Yeah!
Jordan Powers (03:09):
It's just from the outside, at least, seems
like this perfect balance ofbrilliant research and pushing
the industry forward. But thenalso the collaboration that you
can have a lot of brilliantpeople, but if they're not
getting together and notcommunicating.
Camp Hand (03:21):
Then everybody's just doing their own thing.
Jordan Powers (03:23):
Exactly. That's fascinating.
Camp Hand (03:25):
Next time y'all come, we'll try to work it out to
where we cook lunch at the gin.
Jordan Powers (03:28):
I was gonna say, wait a second.
Emily Cabrera (03:29):
Yeah, we missed an opportunity here [laughter
and overlapping talk from all].
Jordan Powers (03:32):
Our timing was off, Em. We know that you are a
cotton agronomist. There's a lotto break down with that before
we dive into what your day today looks like. What is cotton
agronomy and why is it animportant role for the cotton
industry?
Camp Hand (03:46):
Cotton agronomy, I feel like, is kind of a pretty
holistic type role. What I workon is everything from planting
up to harvest. We look at seedquality, we look at seeding
rates, we look at plant growthregulators, defoliation and
termination of that cotton crop.
Even to a certain extent, youkind of trace it through the gin
process and start looking atfiber quality as it relates to
(04:07):
different management practicesand varieties and things like
that. I need to know a littlebit of everything there is to
know, from planting toharvesting the crop and help
growers out the best I can.
Emily Cabrera (04:20):
And I guess to piggyback on that. Why cotton?
We have all these othercommodities.
Camp Hand (04:24):
Yeah.
Emily Cabrera (04:24):
What was it about cotton that drew you?
Camp Hand (04:26):
I grew up around the industry. My dad worked for an
ag chemical company, and so Igrew up riding with my dad. We
would go and check fields andstuff like that. And cotton is
just something that if you gotit, you got it, you know, kind
of thing, and it's like most ofthe people that are in the
cotton business now, it's likein your blood, almost. And
that's the way it was for me. Myfamily lives in a little town in
(04:50):
Mississippi called Bolton, andthat's where I was born and
lived for my first five years.
But, that town ran on cotton. Imean, they have a gin, some of
the biggest growers in the stateof Mississippi are right there
in that little town. If itwasn't for cotton, I mean, a lot
of smaller towns in the southernpart of the United States
wouldn't exist. That's reallykind of where I found myself was
in a few of these smaller towns.
(05:11):
And so, whenever I decided to goto college, I really enjoyed
working in the garden with mygranddad. And so, that was
something that we always had funwith every summer. And so, I
originally was doing fruit andvegetable production in
horticulture. So my first twodegrees are in horticulture. But
then I also had a part time jobwith the soybean specialist at
Auburn. His name is Dr. DennisDelaney, and we actually got to
(05:35):
do one of the cooler things thatI think that anybody can do is
work on the Old Rotation atAuburn, and that's the oldest
continuous cotton study in theworld.
Jordan Powers (05:43):
Wow!
Camp Hand (05:44):
So, yeah, it's pretty cool. It was started in like
1896. It was my last summer withhim, with Dr. Delaney, before I
started my master's degree. Helet me fertilize it by myself,
like he trusted me to do italone. And I was like, man, that
is so cool. You know, I wasfertilizing something that was
120 years, you know, worth aworth of work, and so that, you
(06:04):
know, seeing the Old Rotation,really, to me, was one of the
coolest things that I had everdone. And I was in fruit and
vegetable and the reason that Icame to the University of
Georgia, I got my PhD here inTifton, so shout out to the
Tifton Campus, right? [laughterfrom Jordan] But I came and
worked for Dr. StanleyCulpepper. And the reason that I
came to work for him was on thevegetable side, but he also
(06:25):
covers cotton, so I got back inthe cotton business.
Emily Cabrera (06:28):
Got back to your roots.
Camp Hand (06:29):
Yeah, that's right.
And so this job came open rightas I was coming out of school,
and I applied, and it all workedout, and all fell into place.
Jordan Powers (06:36):
Here we are now.
You're sitting here talking tous (laughter).
Camp Hand (06:37):
That's right, that's right.
Jordan Powers (06:39):
Well, we're grateful for it. What does a
typical day look like for you?
Camp Hand (06:42):
I guess it depends on the time of year. You know, it's
kind of interesting to see howit ebbs and flows. Between
January 10th and March 10th, I'mgoing to be on the road in the
counties across Georgia with ourcounty agents doing production
meetings. So, we're going to beinforming growers on the
research that we've done in thelast year, the things that we
think are going to help themimprove their operations a
(07:04):
little bit, things they need tobe looking at, and new
technologies and stuff likethat. So, we do 47 of those
meetings from January 10th toabout March 10th, and so we
spend a lot of time on the road.
Then, I mean, I don't want tosay it like this, but there's a
lull from March 10th until aboutthe middle of April. That's kind
of when I get to catch up onoffice work [laughter] and start
to get ready for plot work andstuff like that on the station.
(07:26):
And about April 15th, we startplanting. And we plant from
April 15th until about June10th. We do about 100 acres
worth of plot work here on theTifton Campus. And then we've
also got some stuff on some ofour satellite stations, like
Midville and Plains andAttapulgus and places like that.
And so we plant from April 15thto June 10th, and then it's off
to the races in terms ofcollecting data, doing graduate
(07:48):
student projects, stuff likethat. And so, it kind of picks
up in June and July with PGRapplications. Start to get a lot
of phone calls from agentsduring that time. And then in
August, it picks up on fielddays. And so we're back on the
road in August and going to thedifferent stations across the
state, doing field days. Andthen I start doing some
(08:08):
defoliation meetings. I go doprobably 10 of those a year
talking about best managementpractices for defoliating this
crop. What we need to be lookingat, the impact that the year has
had on the crop. And so on theroad pretty well through
September, and then we startpicking. So, depending on the
time of year, a day in the lifelooks very different. That's
what makes it interesting, isit's always something different.
It's always something new andfun and exciting. It definitely
(08:31):
keeps life interesting.
Jordan Powers (08:33):
Never a boring day.
Camp Hand (08:34):
No, no.
Emily Cabrera (08:35):
You made reference to stations.
Camp Hand (08:38):
Yeah.
Emily Cabrera (08:38):
Can you talk a little bit about the importance
of stations and what thoseresearch...
Camp Hand (08:42):
Oh man. Yeah.
Emily Cabrera (08:43):
Yeah.
Camp Hand (08:43):
Yeah, the experiment stations are vital to what we
do. We couldn't do our jobswithout the experiment stations.
You know, I do a lot of my stuffin Midville, in it's on the
southern end of Burke County,the Southeast Research and
Education Center. And I wouldconsider Anthony Black, who's
the manager, a dear friend ofmine. And he's taught me a lot
over the last three or fouryears about cotton. And if I
(09:04):
want to call somebody and knowwhat's going on, I call Anthony.
Him and the whole crew there,they're great folks, and they
run a great operation. Wecouldn't operate in Extension
without the RECs. We have got tohave good, reliable Research and
Education Centers to be able todo the work that we're talking
about in the winter time. It isabsolutely vital to what we do
(09:25):
and the and the land grantmission.
Emily Cabrera (09:26):
And I'll say, there's something impressive
about coming onto those researchstations and looking out and
seeing the diversity of plots...
Camp Hand (09:33):
Oh yeah.
Emily Cabrera (09:33):
It's a giant farm, it's a research and
experimentation farm, and to seethe diversity of projects going
on, and know that there are ateam of people looking at
various aspects of agronomy.
Camp Hand (09:45):
Oh, yeah. Well, and even the planning aspect, like,
it's so interesting to talk toAnthony about how he plans, how
he rotates things. It takes alot of planning and a lot of
forward thought on their part toget the kind of diversity you're
talking about. So it's a really,really neat operation in my
mind.
Jordan Powers (10:02):
It's a big, fascinating puzzle.
Camp Hand (10:04):
Yes, it is.
Jordan Powers (10:05):
It really is. And we'll include a link in the show
notes to the RECs for listenerswhowho might want to learn more
about the work that they'redoing over there. What excites
you most about your work?
Camp Hand (10:14):
Oh, man, I love how it can be different all the
time. You know, and each yearbrings a new challenge. And so,
it's not like I do the samestudy two years in a row and get
the same exact thing two yearsin a row. It's always something
different. And so, last year,you know, we had some really
unique insect pressure that wedon't normally get in the state
of Georgia, and that has longlasting impacts. It's something
(10:37):
that I hope we don't ever dealwith again, but that has long
lasting impacts on the crop. Andso, I've got to start thinking
like, "Okay, well, we had this,what are we going to be doing in
September?" So, the same thingthis year, the heat in the month
of June has long lasting impactson us, and even delayed planting
because it rained so much inMay, you know. So we start doing
that, and then we got all thisheat in June, and it starts
(10:58):
impacting things that we'rethinking about right now as we
approach the finish line. But,even unique issues to the state
of Georgia and even theSoutheast, I mean, that's what
kind of gets me excited, ishelping our guys out, you know,
find solutions to theirproblems. One thing that kind of
cropped up last year has been aproblem for a long time, but
these white-tailed deer are justwearing cotton out, and so we've
(11:20):
started doing a lot of work onthat, and getting a lot of
support from the Georgia CottonCommission, Cotton Incorporated,
Georgia Farm Bureau, to try toget some data to help our guys
out. It's just always somethingdifferent. And that's what's so
exciting about it, I guess, iswhat I'm trying to say.
Jordan Powers (11:35):
Yeah, the diversity of what you're dealing
with and how you can pulltogether, and that's what's
always fascinating to me, isjust learning about the breadth
of expertise through CAES andExtension, and that you have
entomology and plant pathologyand agronomy and all of these
things that come together tomake the crop. And at the end of
the day, for a lot of us, theonly thing we're thinking about
is the blue jeans or the t-shirtor the thing that we're buying.
But there's so much work andresearch and expertise...
Camp Hand (11:57):
Oh yeah.
Jordan Powers (11:57):
Being poured into it, and it's just, I'm geeking
out.
Camp Hand (12:00):
That's the cool thing, is that we've got faculty
in the college that covermultiple crops and like, yeah,
that's exciting, right? It isliterally something different
within a day, right? With what Ido, it's the same crop, but it's
still so different. It justmakes it a lot of fun.
Emily Cabrera (12:14):
And I know you just mentioned the end product.
The thing that, that drivescotton production is the end
user.
Camp Hand (12:21):
Yeah.
Emily Cabrera (12:21):
Sustainability has become a buzzword lately,
but behind the buzz is a veryreal concern, and consumers are
becoming increasingly interestedin knowing how their clothing is
being produced. How areGeorgia's cotton growers
implementing sustainablepractices in production? And
maybe that even goes back to theresearch that's done on those
stations.
Camp Hand (12:40):
Yeah, there has been a big push in the entire cotton
industry to verify that the cropis sustainably produced. Some
people think there's a negativeconnotation with it, but I mean
really, cotton has such a neatstory to tell in terms of
sustainability, even from bollweevil eradication, right?
Before boll weevil eradication,cotton growers were spraying
(13:01):
insecticides 17 or 18 times ayear.
Emily and Jordan (13:04):
Wow, whoa.
Camp Hand (13:04):
Right? To even think about getting a crop. Now, with
boll weevil eradication and Btcotton, we're at two insecticide
applications a year.
Sound Effect (13:13):
[chime]
Emily Cabrera (13:14):
The boll weevil is a species of beetle that
feeds on cotton buds andflowers. In the early 1900s this
pest swept through the US anddevastated cotton production
throughout the South, where themajority of cotton is grown. The
success of the Southeast BollWeevil Eradication Program has
played a major role in therevival of Georgia's cotton
industry. We've included a linkto the UGA Cooperative Extension
(13:36):
publication that provides an indepth overview of cotton
production and the boll weevilin Georgia.
Sound Effect (13:42):
[chime]
Camp Hand (13:44):
And so that's a success story, you know, talking
about, hey, we're gettingcreative. We're finding
sustainable ways to manage thesepests, right? And we're
potentially reducing pesticideinputs, but also making money,
because the sustainability thingis a two part thing, right?
Well, three parts, I guess. It'sgot to be good for the
environment, and then growershave got to make money, and then
(14:04):
there's the social aspect, whichis what you're talking about
with the end user. They wantthat sustainable product. They
want it to be verified. Andthat's something the National
Cotton Council has been reallypushing with the US Cotton Trust
Protocol. And so that is thatverification tool for these
growers. You know, that's thekind of stuff that they want to
know about. I would say thatcotton is extremely sustainable,
(14:26):
you know, in terms of beingenvironmentally conscious, but
also, we're trying to make thedecisions to help keep our folks
in business too.
Jordan Powers (14:34):
There has to be an ROI.
Camp Hand (14:36):
No doubt.
Jordan Powers (14:36):
To put food on the table. Absolutely. So, in
our episode with Anna Scheyett,she referenced you as a champion
in the effort to address ruraland farm stress. It's a very
important topic, really acrossthe world, but something that
we're really focusing on here.
In your role with UGA Extension,you work directly with farmers,
as we just talked about, andhave built relationships based
on trust. Why is it important tosupport farmers in this specific
(14:58):
way? Beyond kind of the hardscience of growing one of
Georgia's top commodities.
Camp Hand (15:03):
Yeah, Anna's the best.
Jordan Powers (15:04):
She's wonderful.
Camp Hand (15:06):
She's awesome. And I mean, that relationship is so
cool, because I met JenniferDunn at some of our production
meetings.
Jordan Powers (15:13):
Also wonderful.
Camp Hand (15:13):
She would come and she would talk. And I remember I
pulled Jennifer to the side oneday, and I was like, "Hey, this
is so cool. What y'all do." AndI was like, "Don't get bogged
down that, like nobody'sstopping and talking to you
right now," or whatever, becauseI was like, "This is important."
And she was like, "Oh, thanks.
Like, why do you think that?"And I was like, "Because I've
been there." I mean, I would saythat there's more people that
have been there than we knowabout because a lot of people
aren't willing to talk about it,you know. And so that's kind of
(15:36):
one thing that I really relateto Jennifer and Anna about, is
that, "Hey, we just got to talkabout this."
Sound Effect (15:42):
[chime]
Jordan Powers (15:44):
Jennifer Dunn is a former rural health agent for
UGA Cooperative Extension. Dunnnow serves as the Deputy
Assistant Commissioner for FieldOperations South with the
Georgia Department of BehavioralHealth and Developmental
Disabilities. Anna Scheyett is aformer dean of the UGA School of
Social Work and professor in theCAES Department of Agricultural
Leadership, Education andCommunication. We'll link to our
(16:06):
episode with Anna and the RuralGeorgia, Growing Stronger
website in the show notes.
Sound Effect (16:10):
[chime]
Camp Hand (16:12):
And that relationship has led to me and Anna working
on stuff together. Like a lot ofthis deer stuff, it takes a toll
on these guys. And so, I toldAnna, I was like, "Hey, there's
something here on the deerthing." These guys are staying
up all night. A lot of timesthey're alone, and you can't
farm all day and stay up allnight and do what you need to do
on the deer. And so I told her,I was like, "Hey, this is a big
deal." And so she and I kind ofdeveloped a survey that we've
(16:34):
started distributing to growersto try to get more information
on how this is impacting theirwell-being. It's really cool to
me that that relationship hasevolved into something like
that. She and I have worked onother stuff too, like shooting
videos, and I've done a webinar.
That's because of myrelationship with Anna, and been
on the blog and stuff like that.
But it's led to, like, stuffthat's going to help our growers
(16:55):
out and help find some solutionsfor them too, and express that,
hey, it's not just they'relosing money, it's affecting
them mentally too, and affectingtheir home life. That's
something that is so cool to me.
But talking about therelationships with growers, I
mean, whenever I was in college,we were very heavily involved in
a group called Young Life. Idon't know if y'all know what
that is.
Jordan Powers (17:15):
I do.
Camp Hand (17:15):
But, it's, yeah. So we led as volunteers with Young
Life at high schools and middleschools in Auburn and even here
in Tifton, whenever I was ingraduate school. But one thing
they always talked about inYoung Life was that you got to
earn the right to be heard.
That's something that even isreflected in what I do today. Is
like for these guys to know thatI'm here to help them or trying
to they got to know that I'lldrop anything. I mean, my first
(17:38):
couple years was spent on theroad, like, getting to know
these guys. And so you've got tohave those relationships, so
that they know, like you'redoing everything you can for
them. And so that, that way,whenever you tell them
something, they trust that it'sreal, you know, it's like, "Hey,
if I tell you, these are thevarieties I would plant," it's
like, "Hey, I'm out therebusting it trying to find the
(17:59):
best one for you. And, like,based on my experience, these
are the three I would look at,you know, on your place," or
whatever it is. And you've gotto have those type
relationships, because if youdon't, then they're like, "Oh,
this guy. Like, who? Yeah, whocares? You know, he's in and out
of here, and we don't ever hearfrom him or see him, or
nothing." So you gotta show hey,I'm willing to get on the ground
(18:19):
and get dirty with you and likewe're gonna figure this out. You
know, we're gonna solve thisissue that you have on your
place.
Emily Cabrera (18:26):
It's not all on their shoulders.
Camp Hand (18:28):
That's right? And we're gonna make sure that from
here on, you've got a plan onwhat exactly we're gonna do to
make sure that we don't havethis problem again.
Emily Cabrera (18:35):
That's gotta bring such a sense of comfort
and relief to know that there'ssomeone who cares.
Camp Hand (18:41):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Jordan Powers (18:43):
And cares about all of it.
Camp Hand (18:44):
Well, and that's the other thing about the Cotton
Team, right? Is we, like, gettogether and it's like, you
know, you can tell thateverybody cares. Everybody wants
these guys to be successful. Imean, talk about rural stress
and mental health and stuff likethat. Cotton ain't selling, but
for like, 68 cents a pound rightnow, and that is way below the
cost of production. And so, wewant for these guys to stay in
business, and we're doingeverything we can, I feel like,
(19:07):
to try to put them in thatposition to be successful, you
know? But it's sometimes theworld market just throws a
wrench in the whole thing.
Jordan Powers (19:15):
Exactly.
Emily Cabrera (19:16):
And, I know you guys are gearing up for harvest
in next month or so. So whatdoes this year's crop look like?
Camp Hand (19:22):
Of course, you've got extremes. You've got stuff that
looks really good, and you'vegot stuff that's not so hot.
That's part of my job that is sodifficult, is because I get
these kind of questions, and Ionly get called out to the bad
stuff. You know?
Emily and Jordan (19:33):
[laughter]
Camp Hand (19:33):
I don't ever get calls from agents or growers of
like, "Man, I gotta show youthis cotton, it's incredible."
You know?
Jordan Powers (19:37):
[laughter]
Camp Hand (19:38):
Now the crop, the crop looks good, the crop looks
really good right now. We didjust have Tropical Storm Debby
come through. Fortunately, inmost parts of the state, it
seemed like that was not quiteas bad as most people thought it
was going to be. Uh, we did getsome spots in east Georgia that
got over 10 inches of rain, andso there was water standing for
a while. But fortunately, it'sgetting drier out there. It's
(20:00):
kind of moved off those fields.
And of course, it's blazing hotout there today, right? So
that's that's helping us, butit's too hot too get out there
and do any field work. But,we're kind of monitoring that
situation. We had a little bitof fruit shed and stuff like
that, but nothing, nothingcrazy. And so, you know,
overall, I'd say the crop looksgood. We still got a long way to
go on it, though. It's just now,you know, middle of August. And
we'll, we'll get started inSeptember, I'm sure. And it'll
(20:23):
go on through Thanksgiving andinto December. In some cases, it
starts in September with some ofour earliest planted. And that's
another thing that's so coolabout Georgia compared to other
places. Most other places in theCotton Belt plant their cotton
in about 10 days. Late April,first part of May is whenever
most places are putting cottonin the ground. But in Georgia,
we could plant from April 1st toJune 10th.
Emily Cabrera (20:46):
Really?
Jordan Powers (20:47):
Wow.
Camp Hand (20:47):
And I mean, that kind of disperses some of your
economic risks too, right? Ifyou have a cotton picker, you're
using it for longer than a lotof these other guys across the
belt. Or these 12 row plantersor whatever, labor, right? You
can disperse that over a longer.
Emily Cabrera (21:02):
Disperse your risk.
Camp Hand (21:03):
Yeah, disperse your risk. And it helps with risk in
terms of planting dates and likethese kind of storms that come
through. You know, we have a lotof unique challenges, but we
have a lot of uniqueopportunities too, to kind of
disperse that risk. But theApril planted stuff will start
getting ready here in aboutSeptember, and then we'll go
until October defoliating, andeven up until first frost
(21:24):
defoliating some of that latestuff. And then we'll just pick
until we're done (laughter).
Unknown (21:29):
You pack that calendar year for sure (laughter), from
January to December.
Camp Hand (21:33):
No doubt.
Jordan Powers (21:34):
There's something happening in cotton. Well we
touched on it a little bitearlier, but we are sitting here
in the studio for Talkin'Cotton.
Camp Hand (21:39):
We are.
Jordan Powers (21:39):
Your podcast.
Tell us a little bit more aboutthe show and tell our listeners
how they might be able to findit if they want to dive deeper.
Camp Hand (21:45):
This is the UGA Tifton Campus podcast room.
Talkin' Cotton is recorded here,and also All About the Pod with
the Peanut Team. This is thefirst year that we've done it.
It's been fun. It presents someunique opportunities for us, I
think. It should be available onApple and Spotify, and I think
I've got it on Amazon. There'salso a link on the Cotton Team
(22:06):
website, which isugacotton.comcotton.com.
Jordan Powers (22:08):
We'll be sure to link that in the show notes,
just to get listeners directlythere.
Camp Hand (22:11):
Awesome, awesome.
Jordan Powers (22:12):
From our podcast to yours.
Camp Hand (22:13):
That's right.
Jordan Powers (22:14):
Helping get the listeners out there and learning
more. Well, Camp, thank you forhaving us down. Like we said
earlier, we love coming down toTifton. It's always a good time.
Always exciting to talk cotton.
It's something that coming fromthe Midwest is a whole new crop
for me to look out a car windowand see as we're driving across
the state. But, so fascinating.
So thank you for giving us alittle glimpse into the cotton
life here at UGA.
Camp Hand (22:34):
Oh yeah. Y'all come back and we'll eat lunch next
time.
Jordan Powers (22:36):
Love it, [laughter] sounds good.
Sound Effect (22:38):
[music]
Jordan Powers (22:39):
Thanks for listening to Cultivating
Curiosity, a podcast produced bythe UGA College of Agricultural
and Environmental Sciences. Aspecial thanks to Mason
McClintock for our music andsound effects. Find more
episodes wherever you get yourpodcasts.
[music]
Jordan Powers (00:00):
Welcome to Cultivating Curiosity, where we
get down and dirty with theexperts on all the ways science
and agriculture touch our lives,from what we eat to how we live.
I'm Jordan Powers.
Emily Cabrera (00:12):
And I'm Emily Cabrera. We're from the
University of Georgia's Collegeof Agricultural and
Environmental Sciences.
Sound Effect (00:19):
[chime]
Jordan Powers (00:20):
So Em and I made the trek today down to Tifton,
one of our favorite spots tocome and visit. And we are here
with Camp Hand, assistantprofessor in the CAES Department
of Crop and Soil Sciences andmember of the UGA Cotton Team.
Camp, thank you so much forhosting us down in Tifton.
Camp Hand (00:36):
Oh yeah, glad y'all came down. Everybody in Athens
is welcome to come to Tiftonanytime.
Jordan Powers (00:40):
And he means it too. Every time we come down
here, it is the best, well andwe're actually here in the
studio right now of Talkin'Cotton, your podcast,
Camp Hand (00:46):
Yup.
Jordan Powers (00:46):
Which we'll get into in a little bit. But before
we dive into some of thatcontent, let's start from the
top. You're a key member of theUGA Cotton Team.
Camp Hand (00:53):
Mmm-hmm.
Jordan Powers (00:53):
It's a highly collaborative, UGA Cooperative
Extension program that worksdirectly with growers, county
agents and industry partners.
How is this team uniquelypositioned to bridge these
spheres in supporting Georgia'snumber one agronomic crop?
Camp Hand (01:07):
I think it is so cool that we have so many people
covering so many aspects ofproduction. The fun part is that
we all work together, me andPhillip Roberts and John Snider.
Those are my closestcollaborators, you know. And so
we do a lot of work together,but it is a highly collaborative
team of folks. And so eventalking about some of the stuff
(01:27):
we've seen this year with cottonleaf roll dwarf virus, right?
You rope in Dr. Sudeep Bag, ourvirologist, Dr. Peng Chee, our
cotton breeder, Dr. Kemerait,our plant pathologist, Dr.
Roberts, our entomologist, DrSnider, our physiologist and me.
So, I mean, like we all talk ona pretty regular basis about
some of that stuff. It reallyjust creates an open line of
communication. We get togetherevery other month and cook lunch
(01:50):
at the gin, you know, and hangout and cut up and all this
stuff. But then we talk aboutthe crop, and it's like, "What
are y'all seeing? What's outthere?" You know, stuff like
that. It is a highlycollaborative team that really
cares about cotton production inthis state. It makes it a lot of
fun to have that, and that'ssomething that's very unique
here.
Sound Effect (02:07):
[chime]
Emily Cabrera (02:09):
When Camp talks about getting together at the
gin, he's referring to thecotton micro gin on the UGA
Tifton Campus. Despite the name,the micro gin is anything but
small. This facility housesseveral pieces of large
machinery that work together toremove seeds and other plant
debris from cotton. Researchersfrom UGA regularly send cotton
(02:30):
samples to the micro gin, wherethe staff evaluates the quality
and quantity of the cotton andshares that data with
researchers. The micro gin iscrucial to the cotton team's
mission to improve cottonproduction in Georgia. We'll
link to a video highlighting theUGA cotton team's micro gin in
the show notes.
Sound Effect (02:46):
[chime]
Camp Hand (02:49):
I'd interviewed for jobs whenever I was coming out
of graduate school or talked topeople at other institutions,
and they don't work that way.
That's what makes us so unique,is you talk to folks at other
institutions and they're like"Cotton Team, what'shat's that?"
It's kind of hard to explain,but it makes us very unique.
Jordan Powers (03:04):
It's just incredible to hear the brilliant
research minds coming together.
But then also, like having lunchat the gin, like...
Camp Hand (03:09):
Yeah!
Jordan Powers (03:09):
It's just from the outside, at least, seems
like this perfect balance ofbrilliant research and pushing
the industry forward. But thenalso the collaboration that you
can have a lot of brilliantpeople, but if they're not
getting together and notcommunicating.
Camp Hand (03:21):
Then everybody's just doing their own thing.
Jordan Powers (03:23):
Exactly. That's fascinating.
Camp Hand (03:25):
Next time y'all come, we'll try to work it out to
where we cook lunch at the gin.
Jordan Powers (03:28):
I was gonna say, wait a second.
Emily Cabrera (03:29):
Yeah, we missed an opportunity here [laughter
and overlapping talk from all].
Jordan Powers (03:32):
Our timing was off, Em. We know that you are a
cotton agronomist. There's a lotto break down with that before
we dive into what your day today looks like. What is cotton
agronomy and why is it animportant role for the cotton
industry?
Camp Hand (03:46):
Cotton agronomy, I feel like, is kind of a pretty
holistic type role. What I workon is everything from planting
up to harvest. We look at seedquality, we look at seeding
rates, we look at plant growthregulators, defoliation and
termination of that cotton crop.
Even to a certain extent, youkind of trace it through the gin
process and start looking atfiber quality as it relates to
(04:07):
different management practicesand varieties and things like
that. I need to know a littlebit of everything there is to
know, from planting toharvesting the crop and help
growers out the best I can.
Emily Cabrera (04:20):
And I guess to piggyback on that. Why cotton?
We have all these othercommodities.
Camp Hand (04:24):
Yeah.
Emily Cabrera (04:24):
What was it about cotton that drew you?
Camp Hand (04:26):
I grew up around the industry. My dad worked for an
ag chemical company, and so Igrew up riding with my dad. We
would go and check fields andstuff like that. And cotton is
just something that if you gotit, you got it, you know, kind
of thing, and it's like most ofthe people that are in the
cotton business now, it's likein your blood, almost. And
that's the way it was for me. Myfamily lives in a little town in
(04:50):
Mississippi called Bolton, andthat's where I was born and
lived for my first five years.
But, that town ran on cotton. Imean, they have a gin, some of
the biggest growers in the stateof Mississippi are right there
in that little town. If itwasn't for cotton, I mean, a lot
of smaller towns in the southernpart of the United States
wouldn't exist. That's reallykind of where I found myself was
in a few of these smaller towns.
(05:11):
And so, whenever I decided to goto college, I really enjoyed
working in the garden with mygranddad. And so, that was
something that we always had funwith every summer. And so, I
originally was doing fruit andvegetable production in
horticulture. So my first twodegrees are in horticulture. But
then I also had a part time jobwith the soybean specialist at
Auburn. His name is Dr. DennisDelaney, and we actually got to
(05:35):
do one of the cooler things thatI think that anybody can do is
work on the Old Rotation atAuburn, and that's the oldest
continuous cotton study in theworld.
Jordan Powers (05:43):
Wow!
Camp Hand (05:44):
So, yeah, it's pretty cool. It was started in like
1896. It was my last summer withhim, with Dr. Delaney, before I
started my master's degree. Helet me fertilize it by myself,
like he trusted me to do italone. And I was like, man, that
is so cool. You know, I wasfertilizing something that was
120 years, you know, worth aworth of work, and so that, you
(06:04):
know, seeing the Old Rotation,really, to me, was one of the
coolest things that I had everdone. And I was in fruit and
vegetable and the reason that Icame to the University of
Georgia, I got my PhD here inTifton, so shout out to the
Tifton Campus, right? [laughterfrom Jordan] But I came and
worked for Dr. StanleyCulpepper. And the reason that I
came to work for him was on thevegetable side, but he also
(06:25):
covers cotton, so I got back inthe cotton business.
Emily Cabrera (06:28):
Got back to your roots.
Camp Hand (06:29):
Yeah, that's right.
And so this job came open rightas I was coming out of school,
and I applied, and it all workedout, and all fell into place.
Jordan Powers (06:36):
Here we are now.
You're sitting here talking tous (laughter).
Camp Hand (06:37):
That's right, that's right.
Jordan Powers (06:39):
Well, we're grateful for it. What does a
typical day look like for you?
Camp Hand (06:42):
I guess it depends on the time of year. You know, it's
kind of interesting to see howit ebbs and flows. Between
January 10th and March 10th, I'mgoing to be on the road in the
counties across Georgia with ourcounty agents doing production
meetings. So, we're going to beinforming growers on the
research that we've done in thelast year, the things that we
think are going to help themimprove their operations a
(07:04):
little bit, things they need tobe looking at, and new
technologies and stuff likethat. So, we do 47 of those
meetings from January 10th toabout March 10th, and so we
spend a lot of time on the road.
Then, I mean, I don't want tosay it like this, but there's a
lull from March 10th until aboutthe middle of April. That's kind
of when I get to catch up onoffice work [laughter] and start
to get ready for plot work andstuff like that on the station.
(07:26):
And about April 15th, we startplanting. And we plant from
April 15th until about June10th. We do about 100 acres
worth of plot work here on theTifton Campus. And then we've
also got some stuff on some ofour satellite stations, like
Midville and Plains andAttapulgus and places like that.
And so we plant from April 15thto June 10th, and then it's off
to the races in terms ofcollecting data, doing graduate
(07:48):
student projects, stuff likethat. And so, it kind of picks
up in June and July with PGRapplications. Start to get a lot
of phone calls from agentsduring that time. And then in
August, it picks up on fielddays. And so we're back on the
road in August and going to thedifferent stations across the
state, doing field days. Andthen I start doing some
(08:08):
defoliation meetings. I go doprobably 10 of those a year
talking about best managementpractices for defoliating this
crop. What we need to be lookingat, the impact that the year has
had on the crop. And so on theroad pretty well through
September, and then we startpicking. So, depending on the
time of year, a day in the lifelooks very different. That's
what makes it interesting, isit's always something different.
It's always something new andfun and exciting. It definitely
(08:31):
keeps life interesting.
Jordan Powers (08:33):
Never a boring day.
Camp Hand (08:34):
No, no.
Emily Cabrera (08:35):
You made reference to stations.
Camp Hand (08:38):
Yeah.
Emily Cabrera (08:38):
Can you talk a little bit about the importance
of stations and what thoseresearch...
Camp Hand (08:42):
Oh man. Yeah.
Emily Cabrera (08:43):
Yeah.
Camp Hand (08:43):
Yeah, the experiment stations are vital to what we
do. We couldn't do our jobswithout the experiment stations.
You know, I do a lot of my stuffin Midville, in it's on the
southern end of Burke County,the Southeast Research and
Education Center. And I wouldconsider Anthony Black, who's
the manager, a dear friend ofmine. And he's taught me a lot
over the last three or fouryears about cotton. And if I
(09:04):
want to call somebody and knowwhat's going on, I call Anthony.
Him and the whole crew there,they're great folks, and they
run a great operation. Wecouldn't operate in Extension
without the RECs. We have got tohave good, reliable Research and
Education Centers to be able todo the work that we're talking
about in the winter time. It isabsolutely vital to what we do
(09:25):
and the and the land grantmission.
Emily Cabrera (09:26):
And I'll say, there's something impressive
about coming onto those researchstations and looking out and
seeing the diversity of plots...
Camp Hand (09:33):
Oh yeah.
Emily Cabrera (09:33):
It's a giant farm, it's a research and
experimentation farm, and to seethe diversity of projects going
on, and know that there are ateam of people looking at
various aspects of agronomy.
Camp Hand (09:45):
Oh, yeah. Well, and even the planning aspect, like,
it's so interesting to talk toAnthony about how he plans, how
he rotates things. It takes alot of planning and a lot of
forward thought on their part toget the kind of diversity you're
talking about. So it's a really,really neat operation in my
mind.
Jordan Powers (10:02):
It's a big, fascinating puzzle.
Camp Hand (10:04):
Yes, it is.
Jordan Powers (10:05):
It really is. And we'll include a link in the show
notes to the RECs for listenerswhowho might want to learn more
about the work that they'redoing over there. What excites
you most about your work?
Camp Hand (10:14):
Oh, man, I love how it can be different all the
time. You know, and each yearbrings a new challenge. And so,
it's not like I do the samestudy two years in a row and get
the same exact thing two yearsin a row. It's always something
different. And so, last year,you know, we had some really
unique insect pressure that wedon't normally get in the state
of Georgia, and that has longlasting impacts. It's something
(10:37):
that I hope we don't ever dealwith again, but that has long
lasting impacts on the crop. Andso, I've got to start thinking
like, "Okay, well, we had this,what are we going to be doing in
September?" So, the same thingthis year, the heat in the month
of June has long lasting impactson us, and even delayed planting
because it rained so much inMay, you know. So we start doing
that, and then we got all thisheat in June, and it starts
(10:58):
impacting things that we'rethinking about right now as we
approach the finish line. But,even unique issues to the state
of Georgia and even theSoutheast, I mean, that's what
kind of gets me excited, ishelping our guys out, you know,
find solutions to theirproblems. One thing that kind of
cropped up last year has been aproblem for a long time, but
these white-tailed deer are justwearing cotton out, and so we've
(11:20):
started doing a lot of work onthat, and getting a lot of
support from the Georgia CottonCommission, Cotton Incorporated,
Georgia Farm Bureau, to try toget some data to help our guys
out. It's just always somethingdifferent. And that's what's so
exciting about it, I guess, iswhat I'm trying to say.
Jordan Powers (11:35):
Yeah, the diversity of what you're dealing
with and how you can pulltogether, and that's what's
always fascinating to me, isjust learning about the breadth
of expertise through CAES andExtension, and that you have
entomology and plant pathologyand agronomy and all of these
things that come together tomake the crop. And at the end of
the day, for a lot of us, theonly thing we're thinking about
is the blue jeans or the t-shirtor the thing that we're buying.
But there's so much work andresearch and expertise...
Camp Hand (11:57):
Oh yeah.
Jordan Powers (11:57):
Being poured into it, and it's just, I'm geeking
out.
Camp Hand (12:00):
That's the cool thing, is that we've got faculty
in the college that covermultiple crops and like, yeah,
that's exciting, right? It isliterally something different
within a day, right? With what Ido, it's the same crop, but it's
still so different. It justmakes it a lot of fun.
Emily Cabrera (12:14):
And I know you just mentioned the end product.
The thing that, that drivescotton production is the end
user.
Camp Hand (12:21):
Yeah.
Emily Cabrera (12:21):
Sustainability has become a buzzword lately,
but behind the buzz is a veryreal concern, and consumers are
becoming increasingly interestedin knowing how their clothing is
being produced. How areGeorgia's cotton growers
implementing sustainablepractices in production? And
maybe that even goes back to theresearch that's done on those
stations.
Camp Hand (12:40):
Yeah, there has been a big push in the entire cotton
industry to verify that the cropis sustainably produced. Some
people think there's a negativeconnotation with it, but I mean
really, cotton has such a neatstory to tell in terms of
sustainability, even from bollweevil eradication, right?
Before boll weevil eradication,cotton growers were spraying
(13:01):
insecticides 17 or 18 times ayear.
Emily and Jordan (13:04):
Wow, whoa.
Camp Hand (13:04):
Right? To even think about getting a crop. Now, with
boll weevil eradication and Btcotton, we're at two insecticide
applications a year.
Sound Effect (13:13):
[chime]
Emily Cabrera (13:14):
The boll weevil is a species of beetle that
feeds on cotton buds andflowers. In the early 1900s this
pest swept through the US anddevastated cotton production
throughout the South, where themajority of cotton is grown. The
success of the Southeast BollWeevil Eradication Program has
played a major role in therevival of Georgia's cotton
industry. We've included a linkto the UGA Cooperative Extension
(13:36):
publication that provides an indepth overview of cotton
production and the boll weevilin Georgia.
Sound Effect (13:42):
[chime]
Camp Hand (13:44):
And so that's a success story, you know, talking
about, hey, we're gettingcreative. We're finding
sustainable ways to manage thesepests, right? And we're
potentially reducing pesticideinputs, but also making money,
because the sustainability thingis a two part thing, right?
Well, three parts, I guess. It'sgot to be good for the
environment, and then growershave got to make money, and then
(14:04):
there's the social aspect, whichis what you're talking about
with the end user. They wantthat sustainable product. They
want it to be verified. Andthat's something the National
Cotton Council has been reallypushing with the US Cotton Trust
Protocol. And so that is thatverification tool for these
growers. You know, that's thekind of stuff that they want to
know about. I would say thatcotton is extremely sustainable,
(14:26):
you know, in terms of beingenvironmentally conscious, but
also, we're trying to make thedecisions to help keep our folks
in business too.
Jordan Powers (14:34):
There has to be an ROI.
Camp Hand (14:36):
No doubt.
Jordan Powers (14:36):
To put food on the table. Absolutely. So, in
our episode with Anna Scheyett,she referenced you as a champion
in the effort to address ruraland farm stress. It's a very
important topic, really acrossthe world, but something that
we're really focusing on here.
In your role with UGA Extension,you work directly with farmers,
as we just talked about, andhave built relationships based
on trust. Why is it important tosupport farmers in this specific
(14:58):
way? Beyond kind of the hardscience of growing one of
Georgia's top commodities.
Camp Hand (15:03):
Yeah, Anna's the best.
Jordan Powers (15:04):
She's wonderful.
Camp Hand (15:06):
She's awesome. And I mean, that relationship is so
cool, because I met JenniferDunn at some of our production
meetings.
Jordan Powers (15:13):
Also wonderful.
Camp Hand (15:13):
She would come and she would talk. And I remember I
pulled Jennifer to the side oneday, and I was like, "Hey, this
is so cool. What y'all do." AndI was like, "Don't get bogged
down that, like nobody'sstopping and talking to you
right now," or whatever, becauseI was like, "This is important."
And she was like, "Oh, thanks.
Like, why do you think that?"And I was like, "Because I've
been there." I mean, I would saythat there's more people that
have been there than we knowabout because a lot of people
aren't willing to talk about it,you know. And so that's kind of
(15:36):
one thing that I really relateto Jennifer and Anna about, is
that, "Hey, we just got to talkabout this."
Sound Effect (15:42):
[chime]
Jordan Powers (15:44):
Jennifer Dunn is a former rural health agent for
UGA Cooperative Extension. Dunnnow serves as the Deputy
Assistant Commissioner for FieldOperations South with the
Georgia Department of BehavioralHealth and Developmental
Disabilities. Anna Scheyett is aformer dean of the UGA School of
Social Work and professor in theCAES Department of Agricultural
Leadership, Education andCommunication. We'll link to our
(16:06):
episode with Anna and the RuralGeorgia, Growing Stronger
website in the show notes.
Sound Effect (16:10):
[chime]
Camp Hand (16:12):
And that relationship has led to me and Anna working
on stuff together. Like a lot ofthis deer stuff, it takes a toll
on these guys. And so, I toldAnna, I was like, "Hey, there's
something here on the deerthing." These guys are staying
up all night. A lot of timesthey're alone, and you can't
farm all day and stay up allnight and do what you need to do
on the deer. And so I told her,I was like, "Hey, this is a big
deal." And so she and I kind ofdeveloped a survey that we've
(16:34):
started distributing to growersto try to get more information
on how this is impacting theirwell-being. It's really cool to
me that that relationship hasevolved into something like
that. She and I have worked onother stuff too, like shooting
videos, and I've done a webinar.
That's because of myrelationship with Anna, and been
on the blog and stuff like that.
But it's led to, like, stuffthat's going to help our growers
(16:55):
out and help find some solutionsfor them too, and express that,
hey, it's not just they'relosing money, it's affecting
them mentally too, and affectingtheir home life. That's
something that is so cool to me.
But talking about therelationships with growers, I
mean, whenever I was in college,we were very heavily involved in
a group called Young Life. Idon't know if y'all know what
that is.
Jordan Powers (17:15):
I do.
Camp Hand (17:15):
But, it's, yeah. So we led as volunteers with Young
Life at high schools and middleschools in Auburn and even here
in Tifton, whenever I was ingraduate school. But one thing
they always talked about inYoung Life was that you got to
earn the right to be heard.
That's something that even isreflected in what I do today. Is
like for these guys to know thatI'm here to help them or trying
to they got to know that I'lldrop anything. I mean, my first
(17:38):
couple years was spent on theroad, like, getting to know
these guys. And so you've got tohave those relationships, so
that they know, like you'redoing everything you can for
them. And so that, that way,whenever you tell them
something, they trust that it'sreal, you know, it's like, "Hey,
if I tell you, these are thevarieties I would plant," it's
like, "Hey, I'm out therebusting it trying to find the
(17:59):
best one for you. And, like,based on my experience, these
are the three I would look at,you know, on your place," or
whatever it is. And you've gotto have those type
relationships, because if youdon't, then they're like, "Oh,
this guy. Like, who? Yeah, whocares? You know, he's in and out
of here, and we don't ever hearfrom him or see him, or
nothing." So you gotta show hey,I'm willing to get on the ground
(18:19):
and get dirty with you and likewe're gonna figure this out. You
know, we're gonna solve thisissue that you have on your
place.
Emily Cabrera (18:26):
It's not all on their shoulders.
Camp Hand (18:28):
That's right? And we're gonna make sure that from
here on, you've got a plan onwhat exactly we're gonna do to
make sure that we don't havethis problem again.
Emily Cabrera (18:35):
That's gotta bring such a sense of comfort
and relief to know that there'ssomeone who cares.
Camp Hand (18:41):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Jordan Powers (18:43):
And cares about all of it.
Camp Hand (18:44):
Well, and that's the other thing about the Cotton
Team, right? Is we, like, gettogether and it's like, you
know, you can tell thateverybody cares. Everybody wants
these guys to be successful. Imean, talk about rural stress
and mental health and stuff likethat. Cotton ain't selling, but
for like, 68 cents a pound rightnow, and that is way below the
cost of production. And so, wewant for these guys to stay in
business, and we're doingeverything we can, I feel like,
(19:07):
to try to put them in thatposition to be successful, you
know? But it's sometimes theworld market just throws a
wrench in the whole thing.
Jordan Powers (19:15):
Exactly.
Emily Cabrera (19:16):
And, I know you guys are gearing up for harvest
in next month or so. So whatdoes this year's crop look like?
Camp Hand (19:22):
Of course, you've got extremes. You've got stuff that
looks really good, and you'vegot stuff that's not so hot.
That's part of my job that is sodifficult, is because I get
these kind of questions, and Ionly get called out to the bad
stuff. You know?
Emily and Jordan (19:33):
[laughter]
Camp Hand (19:33):
I don't ever get calls from agents or growers of
like, "Man, I gotta show youthis cotton, it's incredible."
You know?
Jordan Powers (19:37):
[laughter]
Camp Hand (19:38):
Now the crop, the crop looks good, the crop looks
really good right now. We didjust have Tropical Storm Debby
come through. Fortunately, inmost parts of the state, it
seemed like that was not quiteas bad as most people thought it
was going to be. Uh, we did getsome spots in east Georgia that
got over 10 inches of rain, andso there was water standing for
a while. But fortunately, it'sgetting drier out there. It's
(20:00):
kind of moved off those fields.
And of course, it's blazing hotout there today, right? So
that's that's helping us, butit's too hot too get out there
and do any field work. But,we're kind of monitoring that
situation. We had a little bitof fruit shed and stuff like
that, but nothing, nothingcrazy. And so, you know,
overall, I'd say the crop looksgood. We still got a long way to
go on it, though. It's just now,you know, middle of August. And
we'll, we'll get started inSeptember, I'm sure. And it'll
(20:23):
go on through Thanksgiving andinto December. In some cases, it
starts in September with some ofour earliest planted. And that's
another thing that's so coolabout Georgia compared to other
places. Most other places in theCotton Belt plant their cotton
in about 10 days. Late April,first part of May is whenever
most places are putting cottonin the ground. But in Georgia,
we could plant from April 1st toJune 10th.
Emily Cabrera (20:46):
Really?
Jordan Powers (20:47):
Wow.
Camp Hand (20:47):
And I mean, that kind of disperses some of your
economic risks too, right? Ifyou have a cotton picker, you're
using it for longer than a lotof these other guys across the
belt. Or these 12 row plantersor whatever, labor, right? You
can disperse that over a longer.
Emily Cabrera (21:02):
Disperse your risk.
Camp Hand (21:03):
Yeah, disperse your risk. And it helps with risk in
terms of planting dates and likethese kind of storms that come
through. You know, we have a lotof unique challenges, but we
have a lot of uniqueopportunities too, to kind of
disperse that risk. But theApril planted stuff will start
getting ready here in aboutSeptember, and then we'll go
until October defoliating, andeven up until first frost
(21:24):
defoliating some of that latestuff. And then we'll just pick
until we're done (laughter).
Unknown (21:29):
You pack that calendar year for sure (laughter), from
January to December.
Camp Hand (21:33):
No doubt.
Jordan Powers (21:34):
There's something happening in cotton. Well we
touched on it a little bitearlier, but we are sitting here
in the studio for Talkin'Cotton.
Camp Hand (21:39):
We are.
Jordan Powers (21:39):
Your podcast.
Tell us a little bit more aboutthe show and tell our listeners
how they might be able to findit if they want to dive deeper.
Camp Hand (21:45):
This is the UGA Tifton Campus podcast room.
Talkin' Cotton is recorded here,and also All About the Pod with
the Peanut Team. This is thefirst year that we've done it.
It's been fun. It presents someunique opportunities for us, I
think. It should be available onApple and Spotify, and I think
I've got it on Amazon. There'salso a link on the Cotton Team
(22:06):
website, which isugacotton.comcotton.com.
Jordan Powers (22:08):
We'll be sure to link that in the show notes,
just to get listeners directlythere.
Camp Hand (22:11):
Awesome, awesome.
Jordan Powers (22:12):
From our podcast to yours.
Camp Hand (22:13):
That's right.
Jordan Powers (22:14):
Helping get the listeners out there and learning
more. Well, Camp, thank you forhaving us down. Like we said
earlier, we love coming down toTifton. It's always a good time.
Always exciting to talk cotton.
It's something that coming fromthe Midwest is a whole new crop
for me to look out a car windowand see as we're driving across
the state. But, so fascinating.
So thank you for giving us alittle glimpse into the cotton
life here at UGA.
Camp Hand (22:34):
Oh yeah. Y'all come back and we'll eat lunch next
time.
Jordan Powers (22:36):
Love it, [laughter] sounds good.
Sound Effect (22:38):
[music]
Jordan Powers (22:39):
Thanks for listening to Cultivating
Curiosity, a podcast produced bythe UGA College of Agricultural
and Environmental Sciences. Aspecial thanks to Mason
McClintock for our music andsound effects. Find more
episodes wherever you get yourpodcasts.
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