I have to confess, I thought this year was going to be different. If you read the 2019 cotton acreage projections I shared, you may remember that excitement about acres going up. So when I saw that one of my favorite farm Instagrammers would plant their first cotton crop, I had high hopes. Both for the crop and my ability to follow cotton from afar. I could see the photos that were to come and I had visions of her contributing to the blog all year. Just look at this photo she (Lindsay Kimbrell) took of cotton several weeks ago. (And while you are there follow KimbrellFarmPhoto!)

 

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Future jeans, shirts, sheets, towels or fabric! Hope this crop does well, I can’t wait to watch it! • #Cotton #TexasCotton #FabricOfOurLives #helenaagrienterprises #deltapinecotton

A post shared by Lindsay Kimbrell (@kimbrellfarmphoto) on Jun 1, 2019 at 11:12am PDT

See what I mean? Lindsay is clearly a talented photographer. I appreciate her sending me so many great shots for this story. I’ve gotten a bit ahead of myself though…..

Meet the Kimbrells

This post is to introduce you to Lindsay Kimbrell, her husband Todd and their family farm in Itasca, Texas as part of the Farmer Friday series I kicked off a while ago. Before you Google Itasca, it is south of Dallas along I-35.

Lindsay is the one  who keeps me up on what’s happening. She explains the family’s path by saying “My husband started with working on the family land and eventually found his own. He was 18 and rented some land that had been in conservation for years so he had a lot of work to get it ready for crops.”

Todd’s a fifth generation farmer and Lindsay admits he’s really helped her grow her depth of understanding. “I’d say it’s in his genes and his grandfather had a love for farming so was able to provide some good words on a hard day to get him through.”

The Kimbrell’s have been growing grain for the most part but this year seemed a good one to try cotton. “We grew a little bit of cotton back in 2011, which was our first go at it personally. It had been grown before by my husband’s grandpa, but that was many years ago. We recently just rented some land that is great for cotton, so we tried again this spring.”

Texas Blacklands

Texas is broken into several different agricultural regions. And the area where the Kimbrells farm is called The Blacklands. “Our area is very high in farm land,” she explains. “This is called the ‘Blacklands’ because our soil is black and very good for growing. It’s a sort of sweet spot in this area.”

Lindsay says she can’t help but hope grandpa would be really proud of the work they have done and the way the farm has grown. She says part of that has been the knowledge of soils and data.

“Technology is a huge part in our operation,” she says. “Todd is very particular about soil health, planting population and fertilization. He never wants to strip the soil of its health. We leave as much organic matter as we can after a crop. We use precision planting monitors and products to get accurate seed depth and spacing.”

All of this is done with an eye on the future too as they are “growing our operation so the next generation, meaning our children and little brother, can hopefully carry on the legacy.”

The 2019 Cotton Crop

The Kimbrells were looking forward to a first cotton crop. Lindsay points to her love of t-shirts and you can see her enthusiasm for the future in that Instagram post.

Those plants though took a real beating from hail recently. “Unfortunately are first little cotton crop in years is hailed out,” Lindsay says and explains that the insurance process is in the works.

I can remember being surprised by a Dallas hailstorm a few years ago… my car definitely looked worse for the wear and tear. Well, with plants, that tears open the plant tissues. Leaves can be ripped off the plant and it is easy for diseases to get in, photosynthesis is really reduced, some plants are maimed while others are killed.

These are days farmers dread. All their hopes for a field’s reaching full potential fall coming to an end. Some of the other fields are doing better with other crops though. And Lindsay’s excitement for the future is still there. She’s decided to continue to follow through learning more about the process. “The local ginners and I have a great friendship and I plan to still come visit and watch the process and I plan to ask what cotton grown here gets used for!”

Follow Lindsay and Kimbrell Farms

I hope like you feel you’ve gotton a chance to meet Lindsay, Todd and the rest of the Kimbrell family. They have entered the cotton farming world and it hasn’t worked out so far. But 2019 is being pretty hard on farmers regardless of crop with flooding, hail, unseasonably cold weather and more. In the Blacklands farmers worry they are too far past the planting window and further north on the High Plains, people are still contemplating planting for the first time. If you want to see how things get resolved for the Kimbrells, check out their social media. Here are their handles & URLs!

• Twitter: KimbrellFarms06
• Facebook: Kimbrell Farms
• Photography & Instagram: Kimbrellfarmphoto
• Lindsay also has a blog Flip Flops & Row Crops where she occasionally posts about what is happening on the farm and in life in general.

The post Kimbrells First Cotton Crop and It’s Not Gone as Planned appeared first on Hundred Percent Cotton.

As I started the series about creators doing cool things with cotton, I thought of a small company doing really cool decor with my favorite fiber. Then I decided to do some “farmer Friday” features so readers could get to know the people who grow the crop. Thinking of both of those, North Carolina’s Julius Tillery, the founder of Black Cotton, came to mind.

I haven’t met Julius in person, but over the years we have talked quite a bit on Twitter (he goes by @Mr_Black_Cotton). He’s worked on his business and I’ve watched as he clearly found ways to add value to the family’s harvest.

Farming for Generations

Julius is a “fifth generation, life-long cotton farmer. We raise a crop of cotton basically every year of my life since I can remember and planning to continue to crop cotton til my last years.”

The family’s farm in North Hampton County, NC is in one of the state’s leading cotton-producing counties. He said the fact that his family has maintained their small farm and are still growing cotton is a bit of a differentiator in the area.

“My cotton is from fields of the last remaining farmers of African American descendants. I had no idea it would be this few people of color producing cotton now when relatively every black farmer I knew raised cotton when I was younger,” he explains.

Creating Black Cotton

Not all farmers decide to sell their cotton as decor — in a vase, as ornaments to hang, etc. In fact, it is pretty rare other than some who have flower shops in the family or enjoy crafting.

Julius wanted to be part of the “new economy and pride for people in my rural poor community in Northeast NC. Thought the best way to make a change was to start with the asset my community has that I participate in every year in producing.”

Out of that vision, he created the company and has added products over the last few years. “The reach of BlackCotton.US in pulling in tourists and shipping out products across the USA.” He’s got a lot to be proud of too as the have sold products to over 30 states in nation! And it’s a lot of fun to see some of the nearby shops that carry the products as well.

Since I’ve already mentioned that I met Julius via his personal account on Twitter, you know he’s online. The company’s website (where they sell various products made from the Tillery’s family farm) is www.blackcotton.us. On Instagram it is blackcotton.us and on Facebook they are blackcottondecor.

You may also enjoy this video by Culture Quest, it lets you go behind the scenes with Julius for a few minutes.

The post Black Cotton — Farming and Creating All in One Place! appeared first on Hundred Percent Cotton.

Very few of us look out the window of our homes, offices or cars and see what is happening with a crop, much less know what cotton looks like day-to-day. Those plants ultimately will become that favorite pair of jeans or the luxurious sheets that ease our body & mind at night. Would that be cool to see? Well, thanks to Jimmy Webb (jlw1963webb on Twitter and jlwebb63 on Instagram) a farmer from Leary, Georgia you can hop on Twitter or Instagram and watch the cotton grow.

Farming in South Georgia

Jimmy says he got started by farming with family. Although his dad died when Jimmy was a teenager, he was able to farm with family. His uncle who helped him early on was really able to make a difference for him. That uncle is still farming at the age of 78! They have separate farming operations now.

He describes the area saying “We have all kinds of crops grown here. Plentiful water supply Lots of variety to farm. From tree crops to veggies to row crops beef cows and some dairy cows left.”

One of the things that farmers do frequently is find crops that complement each other. For the Webbs, Jimmy says peanuts and cotton are the right mix. Part of that is the plants need different things, are vulnerable to different pests, etc. So they’ll plant peanuts in a field one year and go to cotton next. That also makes it fun in the social media feed… he shares some of both!

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

There are lots of good and bad times in farming. I asked Jimmy to tell me a little about all of them.

On the good, he pointed to Cotton Incorporated and the Cotton Board. American cotton farmers like Jimmy and people importing cotton fiber and/or goods, pay into a marketing and research program. It’s the one that pays for the cool Fabric of our Lives commercials and other things. He’s had a chance to be on the board of directors of the programs! Not only did he have a chance to determine where funds would be used to help support the crop’s marketing & development but he says he really loved meeting others in the cotton industry all over the country who share a love of the fiber.

When it comes to the ugly, there is something that some in ag call farming ugly. And Jimmy says they have moved that direction. Farming ugly means the fields aren’t fully tilled which gave us beautiful rows of freshly turned dirt. That leaves some of the previous years plants, weeds, etc in the field making things a bit uglier but these practices also have a great benefit for soil health and Jimmy says it helps them capture rain and irrigation water.

When He’s Not Farming….

In December, there was big news for the Webb family… a new granddaughter. As a proud grandpa, I think Jimmy may get that little girl in the buddy seat. And someday, she may be planting those crops!

#WatchTheCottonGrow

Jimmy started the hashtag #watchthecottongrow in 2017 and shares the day to day… this was one of the first. You really should check it out!

Watch the cotton grow – fertilizer today 80# of Nitrogen and 30# of potash #watchthecottongrow pic.twitter.com/uyEd5VRnJ7

— Jimmy Webb (@Jlw1963Webb) June 27, 2017

Ideas?

Know another farmer that should be featured on farmer Friday? Leave a comment on this post or send a message through the Hundred Percent Cotton contact page.

The post Meet the Cotton Farmer Who Lets You Watch the Cotton Grow appeared first on Hundred Percent Cotton.