My father and I grow 1,000 - 1,500 acres of dry-land cotton each year near Bennettsville, South Carolina. In addition, we operate a modern high speed gin with UD press and also warehouse and market a sizeable quantity of cotton for other producers. Cotton is our major crop and we are fortunate to live in and interchange production ideas with an unusually progressive cotton production community. In fact, one of the highlights of each day is meeting for breakfast at a local cafe to compare current and long range thoughts on production and marketing with other growers, businessmen and sometimes technical people.

While our cotton production system may have some unique aspects, it is a product of the wealth of information available from my father, other local producers, the extension service, breakfasts at Nick's Cafe and annual attendance at the Beltwide Cotton Conferences.

I would like to briefly go over our production system and point out where our operation differs from usual practices in my area.