Ron Smith 1, Senior Content Director

December 2, 2013

6 Slides

Gaines county, Texas, farmer John Friesen hit a goal in 2013 that had eluded him, and many other cotton farmers, for years—five-bale cotton. He topped that on one 120-acre field under center pivot irrigation.

“Everything had to fall into place to make that yield,” he says. The variety, NG 1511 B2RF, played a big role, he says, as did the land and water.

“This was a new field and had been in Conservation Reserve for 10 or 20 years,” he says. “And a new well produced 700 gallons of water per minute.  That’s as good as it gets in this area; it’s unusually good water.”

Friesen says that combination—a variety that was capable of producing high yields, new soil and ample water—provided the incentive to manage the field a bit more aggressively than usual. “I like the variety,” he says. “And I set a goal, or a dream, of five bales per acre.”

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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