Guayule is a new industrial crop; however, the growing techniques for this plant are steeped in history. Guayule cultivation and harvesting models share much in common with those successfully used on cotton for more than 100 years.
Yulex Corporation has adopted many of the technologies used in modern cotton automation and adapted them to the needs of the guayule model. Equipment for cotton production such as plows, discs, bed shapers, cultivators, and module builders can be used for guayule production. Harvesting equipment requires some customization. The outcome is row configuration, spacing and harvesting practices that are unique to guayule but familiar to most growers of major industrial crops.
Guayule stands can be established by transplanting, and direct seeding to reduce stand establishment costs.
Partner growers are carefully selected by Yulex based on assessments that include identifying soils that can support maximum yields. Switching acreage to guayule is easiest for growers with cotton experience as their existing equipment can be used for the production of guayule, but any farmer can easily make the switch. With the predicted worldwide rubber shortage in the next decade, the need for circumallergenic latex products, and more clean and green products from guayule, Yulex Corporation has found many growers eager to partner.
In addition, guayule is unrivaled compared to existing and alternative crops. The plant requires less water, less planting, cultivating and harvesting preparation since it is a perennial, and naturally produces terpene resins so it is resistant to many pests and less susceptible to diseases.
