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Eradication FAQ
What is the boll weevil eradication program?
A grower-initiated and funded program designed to eliminate the boll weevil from the cotton fields of Texas.
Every active zone is established through a referendum in which at least two-thirds of the growers voting approve the establishment of a program in the zone and the assessment to pay for it.
Who is responsible for carrying out the program?
The state Legislature has given the Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation, Inc., the authority for the implementation of eradication throughout the state.
The Texas Department of Agriculture has been given responsibility for holding referenda and has oversight of the Foundation's operations. TDA also sets the assessment each year, which cannot exceed the maximum amount approved in a referendum and approves the due dates for those assessments.
How is the program funded?
Growers supply most of the funds used in carrying out eradication. State and federal cost-share funds provide the rest.
Because assessments do not cover all the operating costs each year, loans are obtained to cover the deficit. As the program progresses, costs decrease, and assessments are used for debt reduction. When debt-reduction costs drop, so will the assessments.
After a zone has repaid its debt, a maintenance fee will be charged. Experience in other eradication programs has shown that this charge is minimal.
How is eradication accomplished?
Through mapping, trapping and control.
All fields in a zone are mapped using Global Positioning Satellite technology.
Traps are then deployed around these fields to provide program personnel with data about boll weevil activity in the fields. Because the traps contain an insecticide strips, they function as a control method as well.
Control is primarily accomplished through the use of good cultural practices such as early planting and harvest and the timely removal of hostable material from fields, and through insecticide applications. Most insecticide applications are performed by aerial applicators, but in areas where this is not possible or near sensitive areas, such as schools, hospitals, nursing homes, housing developments or ecologically sensitive areas, ground rigs are used to apply the insecticide.
The Foundation uses malathion ULV, applied at a rate of 12 ounces per acre. During the diapause phase, which is implemented in late summer or early fall, depending on the area and weevil activity, all fields are sprayed each week. In subsequent years, fields are sprayed based on trap catches. Spraying begins when cotton reaches pinhead square stage and continues until harvest or a killing freeze. Typically, less spraying is done during the middle of the cotton season to preserve beneficial insects.
How long will eradication last?
Many factors are involved, but in general four to six years are required to eradicate the boll weevil and confirm that eradication has taken place. Zones that have less weevil activity may achieve eradication sooner, and adverse weather conditions may extend the time needed by a year or so.
How are aerial applicators hired?
Each work unit's contract is let on the basis of competitive bids. An applicator's past performance may be taken into account before the contract is given. During the season, each applicator's work is evaluated, and failure to observe program protocols may result in a contract being to another applicator. All applications are monitored to ensure adherence to program protocols.
How do growers benefit from the program?
Because the boll weevil is the most consistent threat to cotton, a large part of a grower's insecticide costs go to weevil control. Eradicating the weevil results in higher yields and lower costs.
After eradication, costs for all cotton-pest control also tends to decrease through the resurgence of beneficial insects land values usually increase.
How does the general public benefit?
Fewer insecticides are introduced into the environment, and the area's economy improves. The damage caused by boll weevils goes far beyond the destruction of cotton bolls. Studies have shown that millions of dollars are lost to communities through the loss of trade and jobs associated with the support industries because grower income is reduced. In some cases, growers leave agriculture altogether and may leave their communities to find employment, taking their families and business with them.
How does eradication affect other insects?
Malathion is detrimental to other insects, including beneficials and honey bees.
The foundation closely monitors the activities of other cotton pests, such as beet armyworms and aphids, and will reduce control efforts if these populations grow too large to make sure beneficial insect populations that help control these pests are not reduced. The Foundation works with beekeepers to make sure hives are not affected by eradication treatments.
Will I be informed before my fields are sprayed?
Yes. If trap catches indicate a need for your field to be sprayed, a field unit supervisor will call you the night before the spraying is scheduled.
You can aid the effort by making sure you provide the FUS with your correct phone number, making sure your answering machine, if you have one, is on, or providing the FUS with an alternate number if you can't be reached or if a message cannot be left.
Anyone else who may be affected by the spraying, such as consultants, will also be informed if the FUS is provided with the appropriate phone number.
Who decides a zone is eradicated?
The Foundation keeps detailed records of trapping data. When that data shows very little weevil activity taking place, program personnel will join with extension personnel to determine if reproducing populations are present.
If no reproducing populations are present, the Foundation's program director will present the data to the Foundation's Technical Advisory Committee for review. The committee is composed of experts from the state's universities, the Agricultural Extension Service, USDA-APHIS and the National Cotton Council.
If the committee agrees with the findings, the information is forwarded to TDA for further review. TDA has developed guidelines for determining whether an area qualifies for a declaration of eradication.
If this review of the data meets the criteria, the commissioner will make the declaration of eradication.
What efforts are made to prevent reinfestation once eradication is accomplished?
TDA has developed rules designed to protect grower investment in eradication.
An eradicated zone is released from quarantine and the movement of cotton, harvesting equipment and cotton by-products from an uneradicated zone to or through an eradicated zone will be strictly regulated.
Besides these rules, growers in eradicated zones are watchful to make sure no threat to their investment is allowed in their area.
Assessments
How much will the assessment be?
The assessment cannot exceed the maximum set in the referendum. The assessment will probably be set at the maximum for at least six years to ensure adequate cash flow to pay for the program and associated debt.
What if I don't plant cotton?
You will not be charged an assessment in any year that you do not grow cotton.
What if I plant cotton but destroy it before harvest?
Some zone steering committees request a credit be given on the assessment for failed acres. The amount of the credit varies by zone, but in all instances, fields must kept free of hostable cotton through the end of the growing season before a credit will be applied. Steering committee recommendations are reviewed by the Foundation's Board of Directors and forwarded to the commissioner of agriculture for approval. The commissioner sets the assessment rate for all zones.
In later years of the program, the amount of cotton planted in a zone usually rises dramatically. In older, active zones, steering committees have requested that all cotton planted be charged some or all of the assessment even if the crop is later failed. This takes care of the continuing costs of mapping and trapping fields and ensures adequate cash flow and prompt repayment of the zone's debt.
What if I can't afford the assessment?
Because this cost is usually fixed, many growers include the assessment in their operating loan. However, you may make arrangements with the Foundation to pay the assessment in installments. A small interest charge is added to any unpaid balance.
What if I don't pay at all?
A lien may be placed against the cotton grown for the current crop year. The Foundation's lien does not have priority over other liens that may be attached to your cotton.
If the Foundation lien does affect you, you will not be able to sell your crop or receive the proceeds from the sale of the crop until you have paid your outstanding balance for that crop year.
Again, the Foundation will work with you to make arrangements to pay your assessment.
Will my assessment be used to pay for another zone's debt?
No. By law assessments may only be applied to the zone in which they are collected.