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Survey of cotton growers shows acreage increase

A survey of U.S. cotton growers’ 2016 planting intentions may have caught some in the ag industry by surprise.

Even though cotton prices are at their lowest levels in five years, the survey showed cotton growers plan to increase plantings by six percent over last year.

Jody Campiche, an economic analyst with the National Cotton Council (NCC), tells Brownfield an increase in cotton acreage in south Texas accounts for some of the increase.

“Last year, for the 2015 season, South Texas had a lot lower cotton acres than they normally do, due to excessive rainfall that prevented them from planting,” says Campiche. “So what we’re seeing in Texas is mostly just that acreage that didn’t get planted in ’15 is now coming back into production in ’16.”

The Mid-South, which includes Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee, is anticipating a 25 percent increase in cotton acres. Campiche says, for many farmers in that region, cotton looks like a better bet than corn or soybeans.

“So we’re kind of seeing a bit of a shift from corn and soybeans into cotton. Not because cotton prices are higher. It’s just that they’re looking at some really tight margins—really tight economic conditions—and they’re kind of looking at, ‘Which crop do I have the possibility of making a profit with’.”

Cotton growers in the Brownfield state of Missouri indicate they’ll increase acreage by 14 percent to 211-thousand acres.

The NCC survey was conducted from mid-December through mid-January. Campiche says that actual plantings will be influenced, of course, by what happens with markets and weather in the coming weeks.

AUDIO: Jody Campiche