Friday, August 29, 1997

Grain sorghum board to hold statewide director elections

By J.T. Smith / Abilene Reporter-News

Texas producers who grow grain sorghum have a chance this year to run for a seat on the Texas Grain Sorghum Board.

Anyone who produces grain sorghum in Texas or who owns a farm in Texas on which sorghum is produced is eligible to vote in the election or to serve as a director on the board.

The 15-member board administers the checkoff funds which are collected on grain sorghum grown in the state. An assessment of 20 cents per ton is collected and used to fund programs for research, insect and disease control, education, and promotion of Texas grain sorghum.

Members of the Texas Grain Sorghum Board represent every region of sorghum production in Texas. Under the assessment program, the state is divided into five districts, with each district having three representatives on the board.

Directors are elected for terms of up to six years.

Nomination forms can be obtained from the Texas Grain Sorghum Board by calling (806) 298-4501. Deadline for returning the completed forms is Oct. 13.

Ballots will be mailed to eligible voters. The Texas County Extension Service county offices also will have ballots as will local grain elevators.

To be counted in the election, the ballots must be postmarked no later than Nov. 21 and mailed to the Texas Grain Sorghum Board, P.O. Box 560, Abernathy, Texas 79311-0560.

Cotton export sales pace better

Latest government numbers show that export sales of cotton for the week ended Aug. 14 were 84,105 bales, more than 12 percent greater than the previous week.

At this point, 1997-98 sales of more than 2.8 million bales of cotton represent a 45 percent improvement over last year's pace.

Some major destinations of one week's sales were Brazil, 30,660 bales; Mexico, 24,460 bales; and China, 16,800 bales.

Western Hemisphere destinations accounted for 63 percent of cotton shipments, some 31 percent went to Asian ports, and Western European customers accounted for 6 percent.

China is a guessing game

Some trade sources in the People's Republic of China say that the Chinese cotton crop for 1997 will total 19.2 million bales.

If so, that's well above USDA's forecast of 16.5 million bales for China made at mid-summer.

The more conservative estimates say China will produce 16 million bales.

Analysts also say China has 10.5 to 10.6 million acres of cotton to harvest this season. (China's official government estimate was 11.7 million acres).

American cotton growers aren't the only ones plagued by insects this season.

The National Cotton Council reports that China's western Xinjiang province has suffered from serious attacks this season by aphids, bollworms, and yellow blast, the National Cotton Council reports.

Dr. Tom Fuchs, Texas A&M entomologist, notes that China does not have to deal with pesky boll weevils.

Of course, Texans would be glad to loan them some.