Nothing Seems To Discourage Larry McClendon These Days
Sitting in his second-floor office at the McClendon-Mann-Felton Gin Co., in Marianna, Ark., he talks about all of those experiences now with appreciation and knows that he's a better farmer and ginner for having gone through them.
Perhaps nothing was more difficult than what he dealt with during the fall of 2009. That crop year, according to McClendon, was the most difficult experience of his farming career. He lost about 30 percent of his production, and that carried over to a dropoff at the gin where 82,000 bales were handled – the lowest output since 2001.
But, like any good farmer today, McClendon says he learned from the experience and is extremely optimistic about the 2010 crop season.
"The '09 crop was difficult," he says in something of an understatement. "We planted and re-planted and didn't get the cotton into the ground until the first week of June.
"On Sept. 1, I thought it was the most impressive looking cotton I had seen on our farm in 35 years. We were pleased to be where we were because it was a late-planted crop."
Harvesting should've begun around Sept. 10. Unfortunately, that's when everything changed. For the next six weeks, the farm received between 20 and 25 inches of rain.
By Nov. 1, McClendon assessed the situation and realized that 90 percent of his cotton was still in the field waiting to be harvested. Sensing that the clock was ticking, he hired extra workers and rented several harvesters. The crop was picked in eight days. An expensive crop had just gotten more expensive.
source : cottonfarming
Sitting in his second-floor office at the McClendon-Mann-Felton Gin Co., in Marianna, Ark., he talks about all of those experiences now with appreciation and knows that he's a better farmer and ginner for having gone through them.
Perhaps nothing was more difficult than what he dealt with during the fall of 2009. That crop year, according to McClendon, was the most difficult experience of his farming career. He lost about 30 percent of his production, and that carried over to a dropoff at the gin where 82,000 bales were handled – the lowest output since 2001.
But, like any good farmer today, McClendon says he learned from the experience and is extremely optimistic about the 2010 crop season.
"The '09 crop was difficult," he says in something of an understatement. "We planted and re-planted and didn't get the cotton into the ground until the first week of June.
"On Sept. 1, I thought it was the most impressive looking cotton I had seen on our farm in 35 years. We were pleased to be where we were because it was a late-planted crop."
Harvesting should've begun around Sept. 10. Unfortunately, that's when everything changed. For the next six weeks, the farm received between 20 and 25 inches of rain.
By Nov. 1, McClendon assessed the situation and realized that 90 percent of his cotton was still in the field waiting to be harvested. Sensing that the clock was ticking, he hired extra workers and rented several harvesters. The crop was picked in eight days. An expensive crop had just gotten more expensive.
source : cottonfarming
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