U.S. cotton growers plan to reduce plantings by 5 percent this spring because of lingering low prices caused by the pandemic, said the National Cotton Council on Thursday at its annual meeting. Its 40th annual survey of growers said some land will shift into corn, soybeans, wheat, and sorghum, which may offer more attractive returns.
The pandemic devastated the cotton industry, from growers through apparel makers. Sales collapsed amid a worldwide economic slowdown. “The overall economy is recovering at a much faster pace than originally expected,” said the Cotton Council in an economic outlook, while cautioning that the coronavirus is still widespread and vaccination efforts are in their early stages.
The Cotton Council’s survey is widely followed because it has a record of accuracy. In the survey, which was conducted at the end of 2020, growers in the 17 states that make up the Cotton Belt said they intended to plant 11.5 million acres, divided between 11.3 million acres of upland cotton and 161,000 acres of Pima cotton. With normal weather and yields, the harvest would be 16.7 million bales weighing 480 pounds each, including 16.3 million bales of upland cotton and 431,000 bales of Pima.
The 2020 crop, hit by lower than usual yields per acre, was 19.95 million bales.