Cotton Crop Best Ever
US cotton is having a very good year.
Despite slow growth in some areas, growers may record one of their best years ever.
The latest USDA cotton outlook has good news on both the production and price fronts.
USDA raised its estimate for cotton production to 18.2 million bales.
That’s a percent higher than the last forecast and 25% more than in 2020.
The USDA Outlook Board says in spite of the increase in production, the price for cotton looks to be climbing too.
The average price of cotton could reach $.90 per pound. That would be the highest season average market price ever recorded.
USDA Chief Economist Seth Meyer says many people have more disposable income coming out of the pandemic than before the pandemic.
Meyer: “ Consumption is simply stronger than pre-pandemic levels.”
He says fashion and comfort issues could be a reason cotton is very much in demand.
Cotton crops are not all doing so well according to the latest crop progress reports, however.
In Alabama, cotton bolls were mostly finished opening as harvest continued to pick up. Some producers noted that they had experienced yield losses from boll rot due to excessive rainfall.
In Georiga, while cotton harvest was starting to pick up, cotton quality was noted to have been negatively affected by wet conditions throughout the fall. That resulted in subpar yields for some producers.
