Auburn, Sept. 7---As cotton growers sat under shade trees during the 23^rd annual cotton tour, it was difficult not to be reminded of how much cotton farming had changed within the past couple of decades.

(Above: Dr. Kathy McLean, an Auburn University researcher and assistant professor of plant pathology, discusses cotton seedling disease control at the cotton tour and field day, held September 6 at Prattville Experiment Field.)

Nearby, a delegation of Chinese agricultural scientists huddled with the handful of English speakers in their ranks, straining to understand the speakers.

September 6, 2001, was a far cry from August 1978 when the first such cotton tour was held in east Alabama.

The name and location of the cotton tour had changed. What had started out as separate central and east Alabama cotton tours had been merged into one.

Even the methods had changed. In previous tours, producers formed their cars and trucks into a long caravan, winding their way up long stretches of highway, pausing frequently for scheduled stops at local farms where producers were on hand to discuss their personal crop situations.

This year’s event wasn’t so much a tour as a seminar held under a grassy, tree-shaded area just a stone’s throw away from a cotton research field that had been under continuous cultivation at the Prattville Experimental Field since 1928.

Sponsored by the Alabama Cooperative Extension System and the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station, the tour attracted more than 100 growers and others involved in agriculture throughout east and central Alabama. A yearly event, it is held to acquaint cotton producers with the latest advances in cotton production technology – technology they will need to stay competitive in a highly global farming economy.

Perhaps the most significant change of all was what was discussed at this year’s tour.

Two decades ago, controlling insects were the paramount concern of every east and central Alabama producer. Every producer, without exception, farmed under the specter of boll weevils. Three or four days did not pass without growers returning to the field to spray and keep these weevils at bay.

Now, thanks to dramatic strides in boll weevil eradication, farmers fear no weevil. Advances in genetically engineered cotton crops also have enabled them to make equally impressive gains against other predators and weeds.

In fact, most of this year’s discussion was not about insects. Even when insects were discussed, experts tended to focus more on their noticeable absence and how methods used to control them have actually aided the environment.

The introduction of cotton genetically altered to resist bollworms and related pests has resulted in savings of about 3.5 million pounds of raw material that would otherwise be used in the manufacture of cotton insecticides, he says. It has also saved about 1.5 million gallons of fuel oil used in the manufacture of traditional insecticides.

"If we look at distribution levels compared to the old days, we’re transporting slightly less than a million gallons of insecticides today than we were prior to 1996," Smith says. "Just in the transport of these chemicals, we’re also conserving 600,000 gallons of fuel oil."

One major change that has brought both good and bad tidings to Alabama farming is the globalization of cotton production – a fact reflected in the presence of the Chinese delegation’s at this year’s tour.

"The low prices we’re receiving for cotton is a direct reflection of the global agricultural competition with other countries," says Dr. Jeff Clary, Lee County Extension coordinator who organized the first cotton tour in 1978.

Even so, Clary says, one thing that hasn’t changed in the 21-year history of the tour is "the producer’s enthusiasm to do a better job farming cotton" – a fact reflected by the reactions of the Chinese delegates attending the tour.

"They told me it was the most exciting thing they had done since they began their U.S. visit," Clary says. "Even though they are the biggest cotton growers in the world, they were hungry for the information we presented, because they know our growers are on the cutting edge of cotton production worldwide."