WHEN IT RAINS IT POURS!

Wow, last week was one for the record books for Nueces and surrounding counties, as the rain just kept falling. I personally measured 15.5 inches over the recent ten day period and 11 to 15 inches were common reports and some reported more.  What a difference a year makes, as we have gone from desert like conditions to the swamp.  Obviously the rainfall has prevented field work from occurring, thus we still have cotton in the field, along with cotton seedlings and stalks that are not destroyed.  As a result the cotton stalk destruction deadline has again been moved.

The Chairman of the Zone 2 Cotton Producer Advisory Committee has sent a request to TDA to extend the cotton stalk destruction deadline for Zone 2 Areas 2, 3 & 4 until October 15, 2010.

With this request, Zone 2 Areas 2, 3 & 4 will have an October 15 stalk destruction deadline.  This includes the following counties:  Aransas, Bee, Calhoun, Goliad, Jim Wells, Kleberg, LaSalle, Live Oak, McMullen, Nueces, Refugio, San Patricio and Victoria.

For producers in these counties that still have unharvested cotton and have not filed for an individual extension this season, an individual extension request must be submitted to TDA no later than October 5, 2010.   For producers that have already applied for an individual extension for unharvested cotton, subsequent extensions for unharvested cotton may be made up until the extended deadline of October 15th instead of the original requirement of requesting 10 days prior to the deadline.

Producers in these counties with harvested, regrowth, and volunteer cotton will have until the day of the deadline (October 15, 2010) to apply for an individual extension if necessary.

Extension requests for fields in Calhoun, Goliad and Victoria Counties should be faxed to TDA's Houston office toll free at (888) 223-5606.

Extension requests for remaining counties in Zone 2 should be faxed to the Corpus Christi office toll free at (800) 909-8223.

For complete information on the Cotton Stalk Destruction program visit the Texas Department of Agriculture website at www.TexasAgriculture.gov
To Navigate to Cotton Stalk Destruction, click "Programs", then click "By Name", then click "Cotton Stalk Destruction"