Feb 1/2018 Weather 80, low 47.
One thing really great about Fiesta Grande RV Resort is the activity calendar. They have the regular daily things to do plus trips someplace every week. This week the trip was to an Arizona Cotton Farm -4th generation. Nancy Caywood shown playing the fiddle puts on a very informative presentation about cotton farming in Arizona as well as her family farm history and the struggles to keep the farm viable. Cotton has low return due to high expenses in the desert. Water is a huge problem Yes the “Lack” of water. This year the natural water source is dry and the allowance provided to the farm will not be enough to grow the crop. All elements of the crop are regulated - who you buy the seeds from, water allowance, chemicals, pesticides, cotton grading, cotton market, timetable for plowing under. USA is the 3rd largest producer in the world, China number 1 and then Middle East then USA.
After the presentation we took a hayride out to the field and walked into the cotton. It has a strong woody stalk. The dried boles that hold the cotton are very sharp, what a terrible job it would have been years ago to hand pick. Not to mention the heat. In Arizona the heat is good for the cotton, during growing season the plant thrives on it and produces higher yields here in the desert as compared to the southern plantations that we have seen in Mississippi.
Beyond the crop is the cotton gin that processes the raw cotton, removing the seeds. The Gin is a co-op of seven farms. When the seeds are separated from the lint they have a market and are sold to help pay for the ginning costs. Cotton seeds have all kinds of use. What shocked us was cottonseed oil is the 3rd leading vegetable oil in the USA. Crisco shortening is cottonseed oil! We never knew that. Seeds are also used for numerous other things such as animal feed, fertilizer, currency, glycerin for explosives, cosmetics, and more. Amazing,,,, we learned a lot from what we thought was just blue jeans and more quilting material for Rosey!
One thing really great about Fiesta Grande RV Resort is the activity calendar. They have the regular daily things to do plus trips someplace every week. This week the trip was to an Arizona Cotton Farm -4th generation. Nancy Caywood shown playing the fiddle puts on a very informative presentation about cotton farming in Arizona as well as her family farm history and the struggles to keep the farm viable. Cotton has low return due to high expenses in the desert. Water is a huge problem Yes the “Lack” of water. This year the natural water source is dry and the allowance provided to the farm will not be enough to grow the crop. All elements of the crop are regulated - who you buy the seeds from, water allowance, chemicals, pesticides, cotton grading, cotton market, timetable for plowing under. USA is the 3rd largest producer in the world, China number 1 and then Middle East then USA.
After the presentation we took a hayride out to the field and walked into the cotton. It has a strong woody stalk. The dried boles that hold the cotton are very sharp, what a terrible job it would have been years ago to hand pick. Not to mention the heat. In Arizona the heat is good for the cotton, during growing season the plant thrives on it and produces higher yields here in the desert as compared to the southern plantations that we have seen in Mississippi.
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