Ron Smith 1, Senior Content Director

November 5, 2015

<p>A CS690 stripper/baler moves through a field of dryland cotton in Dawson County, Texas.</p>

Lamesa, Texas, cotton farmer Shawn Holladay, who is also president of Plains Cotton Growers, offered Southwest Farm Press editor Ron Smith an opportunity to ride along on a John Deere CS690 cotton stripper/baler on a warm, clear day in late October.

Holladay talked about how well the machine is running, how difficult and costly weed control has been for the 2015 crop, and early setbacks from heavy rain followed by another dry summer.

Yields are “about what I expect but not what I want,” Holladay says.

He also criticized Congress for threatening to reopen the 2014 farm bill and expose crop insurance to severe cuts.

Holladay also was harvesting at a brisk pace to stay ahead of a predicted El Niño and a wet fall and winter.

About the Author(s)

Ron Smith 1

Senior Content Director, Farm Press/Farm Progress

Ron Smith has spent more than 40 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. More recently, he was awarded the Norman Borlaug Lifetime Achievement Award by the Texas Plant Protection Association. Smith also worked in public relations, specializing in media relations for agricultural companies. Ron lives with his wife Pat in Johnson City, Tenn. They have two grown children, Stacey and Nick, and three grandsons, Aaron, Hunter and Walker.

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