King Cotton Slipping In Acreage

No longer walking in “High Cotton”

Cotton acreage in Mississippi is projected to plummet almost 50 percent from last year to a record-low level and agricultural experts say farmers will continue to turn away from the crop until market prices significantly improve.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s latest forecast predicts the state’s cotton acreage this year is 360,000 acres, down from 655,000 in 2007.

Louisiana’s cotton harvest is projected to fall to 285,000 acres in 2008, down from 330,000 in 2007, while the harvest in Arkansas is estimated to drop from 850,000 acres to 640,000 this year. Alabama’s cotton harvest is projected to fall from 385,000 acres in 2007 to 285,000 this year, and Tennessee is expected to see acreage drop from 510,000 in 2007 to 280,000 this year.

But before farmers get to planting next year’s crop, many of them are dealing with low harvests this year.

Farmers in Louisiana lost about half the crop there to damage from hurricanes Gustav and Ike. Crop losses were so severe that some cotton gins won’t open to process cotton this year, according to reports.

United States Department of Agriculture officials say that cotton acreage estimates are the lowest since 1983, according to reports.

Expected crop yield estimates for this year’s harvest in Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Kansas, Mississippi, Tennessee and Oklahoma have declined from earlier estimates.

It wasn’t all bad news though, because expected crop yield estimates were increased for California, Georgia, Missouri, North Carolina, New Mexico and South Carolina.

USDA Releases Acreage Report

USDA’s June 30 Acreage Report

Summary:

 

Corn Planted Acreage Down 7%                 

Soybean Acreage Up 17%                         

All Wheat Acreage Up 5%

All Cotton Acreage Down 15%

From the USDA: Extensive rains and flooding during June caused producers in several Midwestern States to change their harvesting intentions for crops already planted, modify planting decisions for the small percentage of acres not yet planted, and consider replanting options. NASS collected most of the data for the annual Acreage report before the majority of the flooding occurred. In an effort to more accurately determine how many acres producers still intend to harvest for grain, NASS re-interviewed approximately 1,200 farmers June 23, 24, and 25 in the flood-affected areas. As a result, it was determined that U.S. farmers intend to harvest 90.4 percent of their planted acres of corn for grain. This is a change from 92.4 percent as measured during the first 2 weeks of June. U.S. farmers intend to harvest 96.8 percent of their planted acres of soybeans. Without this additional survey data, historical averages would have indicated 98.7 percent of soybean acres to be harvested. NASS will conduct a more extensive acreage update survey during July. Findings from this study will be incorporated in the August Crop Production report.

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The interesting part of the June 30th USDA Report was the large increase in planted corn acreage for 2008, given the significant planting delays in much of the Midwest, and the severe flooding in Iowa, Illinois, and other States. It should be noted that the June 30th USDA Report is based on crop conditions on June 1st, and the planted acreage does not reflect harvested corn acreage. USDA did a secondary crop survey in late June to determine preliminary changes in harvested corn acreage for 2008. Based on those results, it would appear that an estimated 90.4 percent of corn acres will be harvested for grain in 2008, compared to a normal of 92.4 percent of corn acres, obviously reflecting the floods and excessive rainfall in many areas of the Midwest in early June. Similarly, based on the late June crop survey, the percent of planted soybean acreage to be harvested for 2008 was listed at 96.8 percent, compared to a normal of 98.7 percent.

View the entire acreage report.