Modern Marvels: If you missed The History Channel’s premier tonight of Modern Marvels: Cotton, make it a point to catch one of the repeats on Thursday or Sunday. Overall, this was a balanced look at cotton’s history, its place in the modern world and the challenges that beset producers and the U.S. textile industry. By my count, at least 3 of our newsletter readers were interviewed for the program. Stephen Yafa also was among those interviewed. Yafa is the author of Big Cotton: How A Humble Fiber Created Fortunes, Wrecked Civilizations, and Put America on the Map. This history of cotton is well worth the read. Not coincidentally, the episode on cotton tonight was followed by an equally absorbing look at the history of harvesting equipment and how modern technology has greatly improved the efficiency of bringing in crops. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like that program will be linked with the next 2 showings of Cotton.
Like A Fish Finder: Pioneer Hi-Bred announced today that it will be releasing a new Southern soybean variety, 95M60, that’s resistant to multiple races of soybean cyst nematodes. The variety was developed with the company’s molecular marker technology. The system allows breeders to examine potential breeding material for known genetic markers that indicate specific types of resistance. "It's like using a fish finder to enable you to go to where the fish are," said Tim Foley, Pioneer's research director for the southern
U.S. "You can focus on the 5% of the lines that have the full resistance package, not the 95 percent that don't." That shortens the time it takes to bring a new variety to market and allows breeders to screen more varieties to find the optimum package of resistance and yield characteristics, he said. The variety has confirmed resistance to SCN races 1, 2, 3, 5 and 14, the company indicated in a
press release.
And we quote: "Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside."Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)
The Yaffa book is very interesting and well-written. I recommend it to anyone in the cotton industry (or anyone else, for that matter). It makes you a better grower and marketer when you understand the historical context in which you live.
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