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Watching producers adopt new technology and seeing significant yield gains have kept longtime cotton entomologist Ron Smith from getting bored, but the most rewarding part of his job, has been the people.

Ron Smith, Editor

December 21, 2020

5 Min Read
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Longtime cotton entomologist Ron Smith says three significant changes over his nearly 50-year career transformed cotton pest management. Brad Haire

Ron Smith has witnessed monumental changes in cotton production and insect control over his 48 seasons as a cotton entomologist.  

The longtime Extension entomologist at Auburn University has retired before but has been working on contract since 2003. He will retire, again, at the end of January 2021. 

“This will be the most rewarding job you could ever imagine. It’s something different every day, and you work with a crop that’s always changing and pests that constantly evolve,” he told his successor, Scott Graham.  

In his 48 seasons, he said, "I have never burned out. If you’re looking for a challenging discipline, entomology is it.” 

His calling 

Smith grew up on a small Alabama cotton farm. He earned three degrees from Auburn University — a B.S. in agricultural science, an M.S. in agronomy and a Ph.D. in entomology with a minor in soil physiology. “I did not design it that way,” he said, “but it’s the best thing I could have done. I understand the crop as well as the insects.” 

He worked for the old Soil Conservation Service for nine months between his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, worked briefly for a crop protection company and taught biology at Judson College for two years. 

He found his calling in the Cooperative Extension Service. 

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In 1972, cotton pest management was changing, Smith says. Producers were relying on harsh chemistry to kill bugs, so the USDA decided to emphasize integrated pest management. “USDA determined the industry needed to intensify integrated pest management, scouting and thresholds,” Smith said. “They added an entomologist in every state. I got the position in Alabama. 

“My SCS work at the county level probably was a more important factor in landing the job than the Ph.D. 

“The government money that funded that program continued for about 30 years, and provided support for much of my career,” Smith said.  

Significant changes 

He cites three significant changes over his nearly 50-year career that transformed cotton pest management. 

“The first might surprise you,” he said. “Pyrethroid insecticides revolutionized cotton insect control.”  

Those products came along in 1976 and 1977 through emergency use labels and then a conditional registration in 1978. 

“We were concerned,” Smith said. “Pyrethroid insecticides were highly toxic to bees and fish. But in 35 to 40 years, we have not had a single fish kill.” 

The second major change, he said, was boll weevil eradication. “Boll weevil eradication changed the world of cotton production in the weevil belt. We would not be producing cotton now without eradication. It would not have been an economically viable crop. 

“The eradication program went hand-in-hand with the next thing — genetically modified crops, Bt cotton. If we still had the weevil when Bt varieties came along, we would not have gained a lot because we still would have been spraying for weevils every five days.” 

The combination of boll weevil eradication and Bt cotton improved production efficiency immensely, Smith said. “On average across Alabama, farmers were making 10 insect sprays per year. With Bt and eradication, we saw some producers make two-bale cotton around 1996, 1997 and 1998 without a foliar sprayer in the field. 

“But stink bugs were reading our press clippings. They filled the void in the Southeastern Coastal Plains, so we can’t get by without a few sprays.” 

He says the stink bug remains a formidable pest, but not an impossible one. “The stink bug has a long life cycle, so we can knock it back and have two weeks with little pressure. We can make a nice crop with no more than three sprays, even with the most intense stink bug pressure.” 

Hanging on 

He says today’s “low spraying environment and high-yielding varieties have kept us in the cotton business. We’re struggling now with hurricane and weather damage and less than desirable prices.  Yields will be off because of the weather. Maybe we can hang on until better times.” 

Reduced-tillage also helped cotton producers reduce costs. “Minimal-till helps conserve moisture and aids weed control. We have to pay attention to a few oddball pests — slugs, snails, and grasshoppers — early in the season in reduced-tillage cotton. But we couldn’t live without reduced-tillage cotton," he says. 

Mechanization represents another huge advancement in cotton production. “One man can run a round-bale picker and cover 100 to 150 acres a day. A consultant friend recently talked about a farmer who put two round-bale pickers in a field one Saturday and picked 100 acres.” 

He says the best hand labor could pick about 200 pounds a day. “We would have to haul in 500 hand pickers to harvest that much in a day.” 

Forming bonds 

Watching producers adopt new technology and seeing significant yield gains might have kept Smith from getting bored, but the most rewarding part of his job, he says, has been the people. 

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“The friendships I’ve made with growers and others affiliated with agriculture around the state is the most memorable and pleasurable part of my career. In agriculture, you form bonds.  

“When your job is to help your friends in some aspect of their work… what could be any more rewarding than getting paid to help your friends?” he says. 

Staying ahead 

He says the industry faces new challenges as Graham and other entomologists come aboard. 

“The future will not be in chemicals,” he says. “The future will be technology, genetics. The challenge will be staying ahead of resistance with genetics. That’s where the entomology profession will be. I can name eight pests now that pose resistance problems.” 

He says resistance management will be key. “It takes too long to bring new technology to market. In 12 to 24 months, we should have a new (transgenic) product to manage thrips. That will fill a niche, but that technology will not help with spider mites, aphids, whiteflies, etc. We see a lot of potential for resistance.” 

He says worms should be manageable with a third gene (VIP) in transgenic cotton varieties. But the next technology for worms might not come until 2028. “That’s a long time to live on just that third gene,” he says. “We already have resistance to the first two genes, high levels on the first and moderate on the second. Living on VIP for eight years will be a big challenge.” 

Technology, he says, will not replace well-trained field entomologists. 

“We will be applying fewer pesticides, but we still have to decide when to treat and when not to. In this low-spray environment, decisions are more difficult than in a five-day schedule. IPM strategy will be more challenging. We may not be putting as much chemical out, but when to apply it is even more important.  

“When I started, we had college student scouts who could tell producers when to treat. Now, it takes a trained person since we do not spray on schedule. We are managing cotton insects in the true sense of the word management," he says. 

He says cotton IPM works. “The system is sound; we just need to keep fine-tuning it.” 

Smith and Graham are working on some final projects finishing the last field plots. “I’m just coasting,” he says. 

But he intends to stay involved in the cotton industry.  

“I’m not sure what that will be. I have nothing lined up, but I’m not finished killing bugs just yet.” 

Read more about:

Pest Management

About the Author(s)

Ron Smith

Editor, Farm Progress

Ron Smith has spent more than 30 years covering Sunbelt agriculture. Ron began his career in agricultural journalism as an Experiment Station and Extension editor at Clemson University, where he earned a Masters Degree in English in 1975. He served as associate editor for Southeast Farm Press from 1978 through 1989. In 1990, Smith helped launch Southern Turf Management Magazine and served as editor. He also helped launch two other regional Turf and Landscape publications and launched and edited Florida Grove and Vegetable Management for the Farm Press Group. Within two years of launch, the turf magazines were well-respected, award-winning publications. Ron has received numerous awards for writing and photography in both agriculture and landscape journalism. He is past president of The Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association and was chosen as the first media representative to the University of Georgia College of Agriculture Advisory Board. He was named Communicator of the Year for the Metropolitan Atlanta Agricultural Communicators Association. Smith also worked in public relations, specializing in media relations for agricultural companies. Ron lives with his wife Pat in Denton, Texas. They have two grown children, Stacey and Nick, and two grandsons, Aaron and Hunter.

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