The National Cotton Council (NCC) is expecting an increase in planted cotton acreage as indicated by the 38th Annual Early Season Planting Intentions Survey. Producers intend to plant more than 14 million acres of upland cotton nationally, a nearly three percent increase from the estimate from the U.S. Department of Agriculture back in December.
“The Cotton Council release looks like about a 14 percent increase in cotton acreage in California which if you applied it to last year would put us up around 295,000 acres,” said President and CEO of the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Association, Roger Isom. “What I’m hearing from growers is that acreage will be up, and I would have said 10 to 15 percent, so the 14 percent is probably right in line with what we’re thinking. Although a lot can happen between now and planting time.”
The information from NCC indicates that California growers intend to plant 14.4 percent more upland cotton acres and more extra-long staple cotton and wheat this year. “The one biggest factor we’ve had over the last several years was water and we seem to be having a lot of it right now,” Isom said. “So as long as the state will give us the allocation and the feds will give us the allocations we need, we should see an increase and maybe we even get back up over 300,000 acres.”
The survey results from the questionnaire mailed out in mid-December 2018 were announced at the NCC 2019 Annual Meeting that was recently held in San Antonio, Texas. The planted cotton acreage survey responses were collected throughout January and illustrates the potential for the industry in 2019. “Planted acreage is just one of the factors that will determine supplies of cotton and cottonseed. Ultimately, weather, insect pressures and agronomic conditions play a significant role in determining crop size,” NCC vice president of Economics and Policy Analysis, Dr. Jody Campiche said in a news release.
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