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Better Farming Ontario Featured Articles

Better Farming Ontario magazine is published 11 times per year. After each edition is published, we share featured articles online.


Immature cotton finds a market

Monday, August 5, 2013

In the southern United States, big machines move in and harvest all of the cotton, whether it is ripe or not. A use for the immature bolls has been elusive, at least until now.

According to a report published in Industrial & Engineering Chemical Research, a team of scientists from Texas Tech University found that immature cotton soaks up 36 times its weight in oil spilled into the sea after a tanker or oil rig accident. This is important because immature cotton, otherwise a waste product of a large agricultural sector, is cheap. By comparison, mature cotton soaks up only 31 times its weight in spilled oil, and synthetic products only 15 to 20 times their weight.

Using microscopes to perform an examination, the scientists found that immature cotton contains more fibres that are finer. Farmers should be pleased to have a market at all for their otherwise waste product. BF

Current Issue

May 2026

Better Farming Magazine

Farms.com Breaking News

Tom Green bringing celebrities to his Ont. farm

Tuesday, May 12, 2026

A Canadian known for his comedic chops in Hollywood is bringing some friends to his Ontario farm. THE TOM GREEN FARM, starring Tom Green, whose movie credits include Road Trip and Charlie’s Angels, begins airing on May 29 on Crave. The backdrop of the show is Green’s 150-acre farm in... Read this article online

Rising Waters on the Canadian Prairies and Beyond

Monday, May 11, 2026

Spring flooding is intensifying across large portions of Canada, placing farms under growing pressure during one of the most important windows of the agricultural year. From the Prairies to Central Canada and into Atlantic regions, saturated soils, elevated rivers, and damaged rural... Read this article online

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