2019 P.I.E. Program Tour Dates Set

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The National Cotton Council (NCC) has scheduled tour dates and locations for the 2019 Producer Information Exchange (P.I.E.) Program.

Now in its 31st year, the program has enabled more than 1,100 U.S. cotton producers to go to Cotton Belt regions different than their own where they learn about their peers’ innovative production practices.

Sponsored by Bayer’s grant to The Cotton Foundation, the P.I.E. program has a goal of helping U.S. cotton producers maximize production efficiency and improve yields and fiber quality by: 1) gaining new perspectives in such fundamental practices as land preparation, planting, fertilization, pest control, irrigation and harvesting; and 2) observing diverse farming practices and the unique ways in which other resourceful producers have adopted new and existing technology. A unique program benefit is that the participants get to interact with the producers they visit on the tours and with producers from their own region that they travel with during the week.

This season, two of the three P.I.E. tours will occur simultaneously. During the week of July 28-August 2, producers from the Southeast will see Mid-South farming operations in the Missouri Bootheel, West Tennessee and northeast Arkansas while Southwest producers will tour California’s San Joaquin Valley. The third tour, set for August 11-16, will enable Mid-South and Far West producers to travel to the Southeast and observe farming operations in North Carolina and Virginia.

The NCC's Member Services staff, in conjunction with local producer interest organizations, conducts the P.I.E. program, including participant selection.