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Cotton acres may not decline as much as anticipated

The recent runup in cotton prices could give corn and soybean acres a run for their money in the Midsouth. Gary Adams, president and CEO of the National Cotton Council says the Council’s acreage estimates, released earlier this year, pointed to a 5 percent decline in cotton acres.

But, he tells Brownfield that could change.  “The market has strengthened, and has strengthened to a level that we would expect cotton acres to be relatively flat,” he says.  “We’ve weakened a little bit over the past two to three weeks on cotton prices, so perhaps we’ll see a slight decline in acreage, but not to quite the extent that we had in the Council’s survey.”

Adams says weather could also be a factor in a potential acreage shift. “One issue to watch is that normally the corn in the Delta gets planted ahead of the cotton,” he says.  “Given the wetness, my guess is there’s going to be at least delayed corn plantings, and if it is delayed enough some of those acres could shift to either cotton or soybeans.”

The USDA’s Prospective Plantings report comes out Wednesday at Noon Eastern.

AUDIO: Gary Adams, National Cotton Council