Those of us who have been cotton producers for any length of time, know that it can be a feast or famine business. It's easy to survive and prosper in the feast period. The famines are something else; today is a good example.

As a cotton producer, we are faced with 'down' prices, while costs are static. In fact, some of them are tending to creep upwards. The result is the familiar pincers movement that has caught all of us.

What can you do about it? That's why, I guess, that I am on this program. And, I must warn you that I am not going to come up with something that will set all of you on the edges of your chairs.

My brother, Joe, and I who operate as Alder Brothers have been through these periods before. In doing so, we have knocked off some of the rough, costly edges over the years. In other words, I don't believe like many of you that we have an operation that lends itself to wholesale cuts in expenses. Rather, we are at the point where we must fine-tune.