Profitability with changing herbicide programs is largely determined by the price the producer receives for his cotton and the environmental conditions he must deal with in any given year. The producer controlling weeds in cotton in 1950 may be able to control weeds in 1983 at about the same cost per acre. The inputs he will use have changed a great deal. In 1950, with few chemicals and cheap labor, he did a good job; in 1983, with many chemicals to choose from he can use chemical weed control and very little or no hoe labor to do a good job at about the same cost per acre. The tools of cotton weed control have changed, however, the cost of weed control has remained relatively stable.