Beltwide Cotton Conference Kicks Off in New Orleans

(NEW ORLEANS, LA) Cotton consultants, researchers, and industry representatives are gathering this week for the 64th Annual Beltwide Cotton Conference. The event is sponsored by the National Cotton Council and features smaller conferences geared towards agronomy, disease, economics and marketing, engineering, ginning, improvements, insects, quality, utilization and weeds. A change in the format five years ago, saw the production side of the conference removed, as leadership moved the program to more of a technical gathering. Though there are more than 900 attending, the event is experiencing the ramifications of an ongoing government shutdown, with USDA employees who registered for the conference unable to attend. The Beltwide wraps up Thursday afternoon.