As we all know 1995 was not a banner year for cotton production in the South. Every area had its problems. The Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV) was wiped out by drought and beet armyworms, which spread up the Texas Coast to Kingsville and the northwest to San Angelo and continued on to Sweetwater. In the Mid South drought, hot weather, and tremendous nightly TBW egg lays led to a disaster for the hill section of Mississippi. South Georgia and Alabama experienced hurricane damage. High cotton prices and government program changes encouraged farmers to extend themselves and plant more acreage than normal which, of course, led to rationing of scarce resources, especially money and management. When the worms invaded many growers were already at their budget limit and were behind schedule on insecticide applications. The horse was already out of the gate by the time that many producers knew the gate was open.