March 3, 2000

Cotton producers in the Texas Southern Blacklands will have a chance to vote again on the budget for the Boll Weevil Eradication program. Producers nixed the budget last year because many felt the assessments were too high.

According to Dr. Cliff Hoelscher, Extension entomologist, producers and share landlords in the Southern Blacklands Boll Weevil Eradication Zone should receive a ballot from the Texas Department of Agriculture via public mail in early March. The ballots must be postmarked and returned to TDA by March 29.

The Texas Legislature established the Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation in 1993. Texas currently has about 3.5 million acres under active eradication. Cotton producers voted more than 2 million new acres into programs in 1999.

Similar eradication programs across the southern U.S. have led to 5 million acres of cotton to be declared "boll weevil free."

The Blacklands zone includes a 63-county area from Austin to Waco to Texarkana to Beaumont to Houston. The area includes about 105,000 acres of cotton.

Last year, producers representing only 43 percent of the acreage in the Blacklands voted on the proposed budget, and it failed by 1,100 acres. Hoelscher said he does not know if producers did not receive a ballot or were simply lax in returning it. This year, he said, he would like to see at least 85 percent to 90 percent of the acreage represented in the vote.

There have been significant changes in the budget this year, he explained. Dryland producers will be assessed $12 per acre per year. Last year’s proposed budget was $16.50 per acre.

Dryland cotton farmers could expect a yield increase of 100 to 125 pounds of lint per acre after the weevil is eliminated, Hoelscher said.

Irrigated acreage would be assessed $27 per acre, the same as in last year’s proposed budget. With the program, producers who grow irrigated cotton can expect a yield increase of 200 to 250 pounds of lint per acre.

"The yield potential for irrigated cotton is higher," Hoelscher said. "Irrigated farmers’ production costs are higher, although their additional costs are associated with pumping the water and larger general input costs. All the rest are about the same."

Growers can also expect a significant decrease in pesticide costs. The boll weevil eradication program will pay for all boll weevil pesticides and application costs once the program is initiated, Hoelscher said.