Because of the wide array and complexity of production, marketing and policy decisions required to produce cotton profitably, it is necessary to identify and address the major decision points within the total system. COTFLEX (Cotton Farm Level Expert) is an expert system that addresses these decisions on a total crop management basis. In order to identify important decisions points a Production Decision Timeline (PDT) was constructed by an interdisciplinary team of scientists. The PDT considers decisions throughout the entire year by specific production component: agronomic practices, pest management, cropmix, marketing and policy. These components are converted into modules within COTFLEX. A panel of farmers was used to verify the PDT, identify priority decision areas and serve as experts on production practices and costs. COTFLEX when completed will be made available to farmers, financial institutions and the extension service.