Fighting Back by Bryan Cole Cotton Farmers on the south plains are striking back against a pest that has reeked havoc on cotton yields for years. This year cotton farmers on the southern high plains have started to fight the boll weevil by participating in the boll weevil eradication plan. The boll weevil first appeared in Texas in 1894 and reached the high plains by the 1960s. Producers have been battling the pest ever since, but to no avail. Now, with the implementation of the eradication plan, farmers are hoping to wipe the boll weevil out. The Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation is the entity charged with the responsibility of overseeing the operation of the eradication plan. The TBWEF obtained its authority to run this program from the Texas Legislature. Other eradication programs have been in effect in Texas. The southern high plains zone, which Lubbock County is in, started the program this year. Producers in the zone voted the proposal down in 1998 but passed it in 2000 with confidence. Roger Haldenby, vice president of operations for Plains Cotton Growers Inc., said the resolution did not pass in 1998 because farmers weren’t sure of what the results were going to be. However, the eradication zones surrounding the southern high plains did pass the eradication plan and began implementation in 1999. Once the farmers in the southern high plains zone saw the impact of the plan, they realized that it was something the need to take part in. "Awareness (of the plan) of the farmers is what got the plan passed in 2000," Haldenby said. The southern High Plains passed the resolution with an 80% majority, although it only failed by three percent in 1998. Once the surrounding zones began their eradication plan, the southern high plains realized that they had a problem that could be solved. Boll weevil populations flourished in the southern high plains zone. "Producers in the northern high plains and southern high plains got up close and personal with the boll weevil in 2000," Haldenby said. The plan calls for action during the early fall of the production year. It attacks weevils right when they begin to get ready for the winter. The plan calls for full treatment through 2004. Full eradication of the weevil is gained when there are no signs of reproduction. Program maintenance is required but the level of application is determined by evaluation of boll weevil trappings. Funding for the program comes from the pockets of the producers. Application costs are $6 per acre for dry land cotton and $12 per acre for irrigated crops. The TBWEF manages the eradication plan and is in charge of recording the weevil populations now that the plan is in effect. A similar program was started in the early 1990s but was brought to a halt in 1996 because of a lawsuit by some producers in the northern high plains zone. The judgement was upheld by the Texas Supreme Court and required a two-thirds majority vote by all producers in a zone in order to enact the plan. Farmers can now pull together to fight against the pest that has caused a great deal of harm for over 35 years. Maybe now producers won’t see their profits disappear due to an insect that is smaller than a penny.