cotton

Two years ago, world cotton production was the lowest in 13 years, due to smaller plantings and plunging yields. This year, the world will produce 14 percent more cotton than in 2017 for a harvest of 24.6 million tons that will drive down the season-average cotton price by 13 cents a pound, says the International Cotton Advisory Committee.

Due to a procedural error on Tuesday, the Arkansas state plant board will re-vote on Friday on whether to temporarily ban use of the weedkiller dicamba, suspected of drifting out of cotton and soybean fields to damage neighboring crops, reported DTN. Some 167 complaints alleging misuse of the herbicide, mostly along the eastern edge of Arkansas, were filed with the state board as of midday Wednesday.

Cotton production is forecast to grow by 5 percent worldwide this year, the second expansion in two years due to market prices that are far above average, said the International Cotton Advisory Committee. In a monthly update, the intergovernmental body estimated the 2017/18 crop at 24.01 million tonnes, up by 1.1 million tonnes from the 2016/17 crop.

Sharply higher sales of soybean, cotton, and livestock products are leading a rebound in U.S. farm exports this year, said the USDA. With four months left in the fiscal year, it estimated exports at $137 billion, up nearly 6 percent from 2016 and reversing two years of declining sales.

At a House Agriculture subcommittee hearing early this month, the National Cotton Council, an industry trade group, said growers are “vulnerable to further instability” due to low cotton prices.

After abnormally small exports last year, U.S. cotton shipments are booming this year and are headed for 14 million bales, the fourth-largest volume ever, says USDA's monthly WASDE report. The U.S. share of the world cotton market would stand at nearly 40 percent, according to USDA, compared to 26 percent in the previous marketing year.

Rebuffed by the Obama administration, the cotton industry told a House Agriculture subcommittee that growers need a subsidy on cottonseed to offset low prices for cotton fiber. The novel proposal, with an estimated pricetag of $1 billion a year, is part of an industry push to make cotton eligible for the same subsidies offered to grain and soybean growers.

A groundswell of Hindu nationalism has inspired resistance in India to foreign influence and large multinationals, such as Monsanto, says Reuters in describing corporate battle that has disrupted the country's seed industry. Monsanto has withdrawn its application to sell a new generation of GE cotton seed in India, which recently became the largest cotton grower in the world.

After accumulating the largest cotton surplus in the world — more than double its annual crop — China is steadily disposing of its state-held stockpile. The government is scheduled to begin daily auctions of cotton from its reserves on Monday and the International Cotton Advisory Committee says that a successful season would reduce China's share of the world stockpile to 45 percent by the end of 2017/18 — the first time in six years that China holds less than half of the world surplus.

In its first estimate of the new growing season, the International Cotton Advisory Committee forecast a world crop of 23.4 million tons, up 2 percent from 2016/17 due to larger plantings around the world. The intergovernmental group estimated U.S. cotton production would rise by 7 percent, a much larger increase than USDA's projection of a 2 percent upturn.

Five nations – India, China, the United States, Pakistan and Brazil – account for three-fourths of global cotton production and all of them, except for China, will expand output in the current trade year, says the International Cotton Advisory Committee. With harvests forecast to rise by 8 percent worldwide, there will be pressure on cotton prices during the final half of the year.

World cotton prices were boosted by a smaller-than-expected 2015/16 crop and remain high despite a larger harvest this year, says the International Cotton Advisory Committee, pointing to currency turmoil in India. "The currency crisis ... is exacerbating the situation, since that country is the world's largest producer of cotton and the second-largest exporter," says the intergovernmental body.

The Agriculture Department awarded $200 million through two programs to help 70 agricultural organizations build overseas markets for U.S. farm exports, which generate 20 cents of each $1 in net cash farm income. Most of the money, $173.5 million, will flow through the cost-sharing Market Access Program (MAP).

The United States will continue its run as the world's largest cotton exporter during 2016/17 with shipments up by 26 percent from the previous marketing year, said the International Cotton Advisory Committee. Higher yields and a 20 percent expansion in U.S. plantings will assure an abundant supply for shipment overseas.

Special agents from EPA's Criminal Investigation Division served federal search warrants on several locations in Cape Girardeau, Dunklin, New Madrid and Stoddard counties in southeastern Missouri, tied to complaints of crop damage from pesticide drift, said the Daily Dunklin Democrat. The EPA is investigating possible misuse of the herbicide dicamba.

With a worldwide glut holding down cotton prices, the National Cotton Council, a U.S. trade group, called for an examination of domestic supports offered to growers in China, India and other developing countries as well as of the impact of synthetic fibers. Gary Adams, the Cotton Council's chief executive, said India, China and Pakistan are years behind in reporting the scope and type of subsidies offered to their growers.

U.S. soybean plantings will be record-large for the second year in a row in 2017 if growers follow through on their stated plans, said Farm Futures magazine. In an email survey, farmers said they intend to plant more soybeans, cotton and sorghum next year while cutting back on corn and wheat.