{"id":66091,"date":"2026-05-04T16:17:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T21:17:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/?p=66091"},"modified":"2026-05-04T16:17:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T21:17:19","slug":"cotton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/?p=66091","title":{"rendered":"Cotton"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At the WLBOTT<\/strong> Ag Extension Service (Go Waggies!<\/strong><\/em>), we’re trying to replicate some of the major agricultural crops of Texas – cotton, sorghum, okra, peanuts….<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s our cotton field….<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We gathered the elders for a quick WLBOTT<\/strong> blessing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our cotton field is directly west of our spinach field. The spinach did really well, but recently bolted (began to flower) which makes the spinach bitter. We used our electric mower to cut down the spinach, in preparation for our okra field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pro-Tip:<\/strong> when mowing a section of the garden, remove the soaker hoses FIRST<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cotton: the Nuts and Bolts<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Bolts<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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A bolt <\/strong>is a piece of cloth woven on a loom or created by a knitting machine, as it is processed, stored or marketed. Consequently, its dimensions are highly variable \u2013 flexible and dependent upon the manufacturing, machinery, quantity, size, thickness and quality of the product.<\/p>\nWikipedia<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The Nuts (well, seeds)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Cottonseed is the seed of the cotton plant, formed inside the cotton boll. Cottonseed is the source of cottonseed oil and cottonseed meal. Cottonseed, like the rest of the cotton plant, contains high amounts of gossypol that can be toxic to humans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cottonseed meal can be fed to cows, whose ruminating digestive system has no problem with gossypol. The cottonseed oil is used in a lot of human foods, where the nasty gossypol is removed during the oil extraction process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We purchased our seeds from a company called Kviter via Amazon, at a price of $0.40 per seed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When we scale up, we’ll have to find a commercial seller of cotton seed. We’ll need about 200,000 seeds per acre, and buying the seeds from Amazon would cost $80,000<\/strong> for a single acre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elder G<\/strong> nets out the economics for us:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Industrial Reality of Cotton Seed<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

For large-scale farms, cotton seed is typically priced by the bag<\/strong>, not by individual seeds. Here\u2019s how it usually breaks down:<\/p>\n\n\n\n