As I mentioned in my last post, the Sustainable Cotton Project (SCP) sponsored Farm Tour occurs each year during cotton harvest. This a day-long event is designed to give participants a 360 degree view of the issues surrounding cotton production. Our second stop on the tour was Windfall Farms where we were accompanied by growers Frank Williams and Mark Fickett as well as Dr. Pete Goodell from the University of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program and Dan Munk a representative from the Fresno U.C. Cooperative Extension.
To hear more from these individuals view the video at http://www.sustainablecotton.org/videos.
Farmers Frank Williams and Mark Fickett
We arrived at Windfall Farms where growers Frank Williams and Mark Fickett, second generation farmers, grow both white and colored cotton as part of the Sustainable Cotton Project “Cleaner Cotton” program. Frank and Mark grew primarily organic cotton until one particularly devastating year where they lost their entire crop to an infestation of whitefly. At that time they switched to growing conventional cotton and soon became part of the SCP “Cleaner Cotton” project. Participants in the Cleaner Cotton project pledge to use non-genetically modified seed and discontinue using the 13 most toxic chemicals sprayed on cotton. Instead, the farmers use less toxic sprays in smaller amounts, spray less often and submit to independent evaluation of their fields.
Inspection of the cotton field.
Once a week, independent private consultants for the SCP program inspect and evaluate the fields. Together with the farmers, consultants recommend when the field needs to be sprayed. The result is less frequent spraying and the significant reduction of spray applied per acre.
Crop dusters are a common sight in the valley.
Cropdusters are a common sight in the valley and contribute to a higher than average incidence of health problems in residents of se the surrounding communities. During our lunch break, Dr. Marcia Sablan, city council member and physician from nearby Firebaugh discussed these health impacts . She noted the unusually common incidence of asthma and upper respiratory disease, especially in children, in the local community. Also of concern in the higher than nomral occurance of cancers in the local community, especially among field workers exposed directly or directly to chemical sprays.
Dr. Pete Goodall, UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program discusses pest management with tour attendees
Dr. Pete Goodall from the University of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program explained that n addition to using less harmful chemical sprays and minimizing the frequency of spraying, farmers employ biological pest controls whenever possible. These techniques include the use of beneficial insects who act as natural predators to the pests which cause the most damage to cotton: aphid, whitefly and lygus. They also employ natural trapping mechanisms such as planting alfalfa strips between fields to induce lygus to feed on the alfalfa rather than the cotton and employing the use of hedgerows of native plants to attract benefical insects, as discussed in my last post.
Vigorous plants are tagged for sead collection.
Especially vigorous plants are tagged with pink ribbons to mark them for sead collection. As members of the “Cleaner Cotton” program, these farmers use no genetically modified seads.
Naturally colored, organic cotton.
White organic cotton.
Mark and Frank still grow a small amount of both organic white and colored cotton and experiment with various integrated pest management practices. However, significant crop loss occurs due to damage from lygus, whitefly and aphids resulting in a organic acreage yield 25-50% less than fields where “Cleaner Cotton” techniques are employed.
White Pima Cotton
Lygus suck the moisture from the cotton boll causing it to dry up and drop before it can flower. Whitefly and aphids also suck moisture from the plant and excrete a sticky substance called “honeydew” resulting in “sticky cotton”. This sticky cotton fiber gums up the ginning and spinning equipment, causing significant damage to spinning mills. A farm that produces sticky cotton will be black-balled within the industry, so this is a serious concern to growers.