Drought-stricken cotton farm wins top bale

[Draggingtree]

Drought-stricken cotton farm wins top bale

Posted: Monday, June 24, 2013 8:30 am

 

Drought-stricken cotton farm wins top bale

 

By ALLEN ESSEX Valley Morning StarValley Morning Star

 

Like workers a century ago, members of the Rodriguez family and a crew of friends picked cotton by hand to bring in the first bale in the nation at 2 p.m. Friday at the La Feria Co-op Gin.

This is the third year in a row for the Rodriguezes to take the honor and the sixth time overall for the family to win “first bale.”

 

“It’s (a measure) of how much we can work and work, season after season, and bring in less cotton this year than ever before,” George Rodriguez said, referring to the worst drought since the 1950s.

It is because of the drought that the cotton had to be hand-picked; the crop was so low to the ground that machines could not be used.

 

“Because of the shortage of water, a lot of the farmers were prevented from planting,” he said. “We tried it to see if we could get a crop.”

 

In order to claim the first bale award, friends and relatives had to pick the crop by hand because the yield with a mechanical picker, or combine, would have been too low, George said. The best bolls of cotton grew very close to the ground.

 

The Rodriguez family will claim a certificate and a $3,000 check for the first bale after it is ginned and sold to the Harlingen Cotton Committee, Trolinger said.

 

The bale will then be auctioned off, usually yielding about $5,000, which will be matched by Texas State Technical College-Harlingen, so that $10,000 will be available for scholarships to TSTC students

http://www.valleymorningstar.com/news/local_news/article_801914c2-daee-11e2-aec3-001a4bcf6878.html