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More cotton acres projected for 2017

A National Cotton Council survey says there’ll be nine percent more cotton acres this year – about 11 million acres.

“Mostly the increase is due to higher cotton prices relative to prices of competing crops,” said Jody Campiche, an analyst with the National Cotton Council.  There were jumps in the cotton market over the past year because of increased foreign demand for U.S. cotton, she said.

“For the 2016 crop year, we’re projecting exports of 12.8 million bales, which is about 39 percent higher than last year,” said Campiche, “and there is a possibility that that could be even higher.”

Cotton growers are lobbying for changes in the 2018 farm bill, she said.

“Cotton is still eligible for marketing loans, but they’re not currently eligible for the ARC and PLC programs that other covered commodities are,” Campiche said.  “I think the main goal is just to get cotton back into the covered commodity and have a strong safety net in periods of low prices.”

Cotton growers’ current government program is revenue-based insurance, called the Stacked Income Protection Plan, or STAX, but Campiche says some producers aren’t satisfied with the coverage.  She says expectations are, however, that STAX will be better this year.

AUDIO: Jody Campiche (6 min. MP3)

 

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