Saturday, August 2, 1997

Valley cotton harvest under way

LYFORD, Texas (AP) - After coping with drought and pests the past several years, Rio Grande Valley cotton growers were counting on this year's crop to make up for the pains of years past.

But as harvesting got under way this week, the situation already looked grim: Ginners are starting later this year, growers face mediocre yields and prices are lower than average.

The Lyford Co-op Gin started operations this week, ginning about 500 bales so far, manager Steve Marshall said. The gin averages 24,000 bales a season and ginned 20,000 bales last year, as growers continued to recover from drought and pest infestations.

This year's figure may not be much higher, Marshall said.

"I think we'll gin as much or more than last year, but you can't tell about this cotton until it's all in," he told the Valley Morning Star for Friday editions. "If we had received a good rain in June we could have had a 25 percent better yield on the late cotton, but it just didn't happen."

Heavy spring rains forced growers to plant later than usual. Then the skies dried up, leaving dryland farmers who depend solely on the weather with dwindling yields.

Cotton prices also have been down, hovering around 70 cents per pound compared with last year's average of 76 cents per pound, said Elsa Co-op Manager Melinda Berg.

The Elsa Co-op has ginned about 300 bales of cotton since operations began July 25, Ms. Berg said. The gin produces 10,000 to 12,000 bales on average, but that dropped to 5,013 last year. Ms. Berg said she expects to gin 8,000 bales this year.

Across the Rio Grande Valley, about 1,500 bales have been ginned so far this harvesting season, said Hollis Sullivan, president and general manager of Valco Chemicals. Valco and the Valley Co-op Oil Mill in Harlingen track the number of bales produced throughout the season.

Valley cotton bales ginned last year totaled 157,455, with 47,014 in Cameron County, 31,390 in Hidalgo, 650 in Starr County and 78,401 in Willacy County.

Twenty-four gins operated last year, with nine gins in Cameron County, eight in Hidalgo County, one in Starr County and six in Willacy County.

E. Craig Smith, executive director of the Lower Rio Grande Valley Cotton and Grain Producers Inc., said growers are hoping for clear skies until they get their crops out of the fields.

"Only time will tell what kind of yields we're going to have," he said. "For now, growers are just hoping for a long, dry spell to get the cotton out."