Maxwell signs bill expanding state's boll weevil eradication

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The battle against the pesky cotton-damaging boll weevil got a boost Wednesday.

Legislation signed into law would allow a vote once every 10 years on whether to continue assessing a tax on cotton farmers to help pay for the eradication of the bug.

That means the tax approved last November by Missouri cotton growers will remain in effect for at least a decade, instead of facing another vote in five years as prescribed by the previous law.

The bill was signed along with 10 others by Lt. Gov. Joe Maxwell, who was standing while Gov. Bob Holden attended a biotechnology conference in Canada.

Maxwell said the boll weevil bill would allow farmers to secure funding to help combat the pest, which would lead to increased cotton yields in Missouri.

"This program depends on implementing a carefully controlled system of spraying, trapping and monitoring on every acre of crops," Maxwell said.

Boll weevils arrived in the United States from Mexico in 1892 and have caused an estimated $14 billion in yield losses and control costs to the U.S. cotton industry, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Boost to Bootheel

Boll weevil eradication is important in southeastern Missouri, where most of Missouri's cotton is grown and where boll weevil infestation is a problem.

The state's eradication program is conducted in conjunction with the Southeastern Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation, based in Malden. It is funded by a $15-per-acre assessment on cotton.

As many as 450,000 acres of Missouri land are expected to be planted with cotton this year, most in the Bootheel.

Lowell Mohler, the director of the Department of Agriculture, said the state is one of the last to work toward eradication.

Boll weevils already have been eradicated from south Alabama, Arizona, California, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.

"It's a big program for us and it's a battle we're going to win," Mohler said. "We've got this critter on the run."

Supporters of the Malden-based program said similar programs to protect cotton crops have met with success in other states.

Eradicating the pest can save millions of dollars in crops.

There also are boll weevil eradication programs in neighboring Arkansas and Tennessee.

Holden has until July 15 to sign or veto legislation. More than 200 bills were passed during the legislative session that ended May 17. So far, 19 bills have been signed into law.

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On the Net:

Missouri Legislature: http://www.moga.state.mo.us

Gov. Bob Holden: http://www.gov.state.mo.us