We trekked through a lot of West Texas in the morning. Besides periodic groups of oil-pumping rigs, we were surprised at the extent of the cotton fields. Thousands of acres that we could see from the road. Most of it is irrigated to grow, likely with Ogallala aquifer water. All the pictures we have today relate to cotton.
Mature cotton plants, ready for harvest |
Part of the huge cotton field |
An older-model cotton harvester |
Each tooth combs a row |
A newer model harvester at work |
Preparing to dump the harvester hopper into the pickup wagon |
The hopper swings up and out, dumping the cotton bolls into the wagon |
Then they part company for a while |
And the harvester carries on around the field |
You can likely see the lighter-coloured where the harvester is working, and the darker area in the foreground? The lighter-coloured area is irrigated by a huge circular-orbiting sprayer, and the darker plants are outside the watering. Much less cotton on the non-irrigated plants.
The cotton is planted and harvested in the same arc as the irrigation sprayer, so the harvester goes round and round following the circular rows.
Here's a map of today's travel:
Interesting image, harvesters going round in giant circles!
ReplyDeleteThose cotton fields are neat!
ReplyDeleteLong day for you both!
Safe travels!