cotton crop
Cotton prices sink as global production booms
Cotton production is rising in all of the major nations growing the fiber, and the United States is leading the way with a 23-percent increase, says the International Cotton Advisory Committee. The large crop, forecast by ICAC as 10-percent larger than in 2016/17, will drive down the season-average price to 69 cents a pound, a drop of 14 cents.
Outsider Moore defeats Senate Ag panelist Strange in Alabama runoff
Bible-quoting conservative firebrand Roy Moore handily defeated appointed Sen. Luther Strange in the runoff for the GOP nomination to complete the term of former Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions. The result guarantees turnover in Senate Agriculture Committee membership to replace Strange, a supporter of additional cotton subsidies, following the Dec. 12 general election.
The Alabama runoff election could affect 2018 farm bill
The newest member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Luther Strange of Alabama, is also the first to face the voters. The outcome of today's runoff election between Strange, cast as the establishment candidate, and Roy Moore, the Bible-quoting, conservative outsider, for the Republican nomination for the Senate could influence the course of the 2018 farm bill.
Cotton industry aims to cut greenhouse-gas emissions by 39 percent
The National Cotton Council, the umbrella group for growers, ginners, merchants and manufacturers, said the industry has set six goals for improving environmental stewardship by 2015, including a 39-percent reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions. The council's chairman, grower Ronnie Lee of Georgia, says the industry "wants to be the supplier of choice for those who are committed to only buying cotton that is produced with sustainable and responsible environmental, safety and labor practices."
U.S. cotton exports leap 63 percent to second-largest ever
A rebound in cotton plantings and yields in 2016 resulted in a dramatic surge in exports in the trade year that ended Aug. 1, according to USDA's monthly Cotton and Wool Outlook. "A large supply of high-quality cotton pushed shipments to the second-highest on record."
Farm bill work starts this fall, vote possible this year, says Conaway
The House could vote on its version of the 2018 farm bill as early as this fall, said Agriculture Committee chairman Michael Conaway at a farm bill "listening session" in his home state of Texas, the No. 1 cotton and cattle producer in the country. After an unsuccessful redesign of the cotton program in the 2014 law, cotton growers repeatedly said their crop must be eligible for the same subsidies as the other major U.S. crops, such as corn, soybeans and wheat.
Cottonseed becomes eligible for crop subsidies under USDA funding bill
In a novel step, cotton growers would be eligible for two different crop-subsidy programs under a provision in the USDA-FDA funding bill approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee. The provision designates cottonseed, harvested from the boll along with cotton fiber, as one of the "other oilseeds" that can collect Price Loss Coverage subsidies while USDA runs a separate, insurance-like subsidy program for cotton fiber.
Uptick in global cotton crop will flatten prices
The prevailing high prices for cotton “are expected to encourage farmers to expand the area under cotton by 5 percent, to 30.8 million hectares, in 2017/18,” says the International Cotton Advisory Committee.
Cotton industry blames northern senators for lack of cottonseed subsidy
The umbrella group National Cotton Council said it will seek short-term aid to cotton growers from the USDA now that an industry request for $1.2 billion in cottonseed subsidies has been rebuffed by Congress. The Cotton Council said Democratic Sens. Pat Leahy of Vermont and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan are to blame for cottonseed assistance being left out of the bill to fund the government for the rest of this fiscal year.
Weaker cotton prices will encourage global consumption, says ICAC
Global cotton consumption may rise 1 percent in the upcoming 2017/18 trade year and stay well ahead of the cotton harvest as the world whittles down a surplus of the fiber, says the International Cotton Advisory Committee. If so, the cotton stockpile would decline 1.3 million tonnes, or 7 percent, in the year ahead.
U.S. growers to plant more cotton despite tight margins
Cotton growers say they will expand plantings 9 percent this year, displacing corn and some wheat to chase the highest market price in four years, says the National Cotton Council. Nonetheless, "2017 is shaping up to be another challenging year," said NCC economist Jody Campiche, because of high production costs and the struggling global economy.
Winegrowers in Texas fear new weedkillers on cotton crop
The wine industry contributes an estimated $2 billion to the Texas state economy, but winegrowers say their livelihood is under threat by weedkillers intended for use on genetically engineered cotton. They are not placated by EPA assurances that new herbicides use formulations that are less prone to drift onto neighboring land in the No. 1 cotton state, or that spray rigs will use anti-drift nozzles, says the Texas Tribune.
China to restrict cotton imports in 2017 as it attacks surplus
The world stockpile of cotton reached a record 22.2 million tonnes, with nearly 60 percent of it held by China. The government sold 2 million tonnes of surplus cotton from May to September of this year and the International Cotton Advisory Committee estimates China will sell an additional 1.7 million tonnes, partly because it is restricting the domestic supply by holding imports to the minimums required under trade agreements.
USDA announces $300 million in aid to cotton growers
With a worldwide glut pulling down cotton prices to their lowest level in eight years, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced $300 million in one-time assistance to growers, based on ginning costs. The cost-share program is far smaller than the $1-billion-a-year cottonseed subsidy that the industry wanted and that Vilsack said was beyond his power to create.
Bangladesh, Vietnam become world’s largest cotton importers
As China grapples with its massive cotton surplus, Bangladesh and Vietnam will take its place as the world's leading cotton importers, says the International Cotton Advisory Committee. China will remain the largest consumer, using nearly three of every 10 tonnes of cotton that goes through cotton mills in 2016/17.
Palmer amaranth develops resistance to another type of weedkiller
One of the greatest threats to cotton and soybean producers is Palmer amaranth, an invasive and aggressively growing weed. The weed has developed resistance to the widely used weedkiller glyphosate and now Palmer amaranth populations in Arkansas are resistant to a class of herbicides known as PPO inhibitors, compounding the challenge of weed control, says a University of Illinois researcher.