Markets/Trade
- AgriMoney.com reports that the International Cotton Advisory Committee has lowered its forecast for 2014-15 cotton prices for a 2nd consecutive month due to a projected increase in global stocks. While Chinese cotton imports were increased by 100,000 tonnes, global ending stocks were raised by 510,000 tonnes to a record 21.4 million tonnes for next season. Cotton stocks outside China, which have a bigger impact on global prices, will rise to 8.7 million tonnes by the end of this season and to an estimated 9.7 million tonnes at the close of 2014-15. Consequently the group cut the Cotlook A index for 2014-15 to 82 cents a pound, as opposed to Tuesday’s rating of 88.4 cents a pound.
Policy/Regulations
- Ricky Wiggins, a cotton farmer in Covington County, Alabama, writes in a Letter to the Editor on the Andalusia Star News that state elections on July 15 will feature an amendment allowing voters to “Choose Cotton” by supporting Alabama’s state checkoff program. The amendment would allow cotton farmers to “hold a vote on making participation in the cotton checkoff program automatic for growers,” providing more funds for cotton research as well as educational and promotion activities for the cotton industry. As a cotton farmer, Wiggins urges the passing of the amendment in the July 15 elections.
Production
- The Atlus Times reports that Oklahoma’s cotton crop is off to a good start, with the Atlus area seeing rains from 4-6+ inches over the last 3-4 weeks. Seedling diseases and thrips pressure have been very light, though the moisture has helped weeds as much as the cotton crop. Some areas did miss most of the rainfall, and runoff levels have been low so lake reservoirs have not replenished enough to provide irrigation this season, but currently the crop appears in fairly good condition. Growers are advised to watch for leafhoppers and grasshoppers.
- Scottie Brown of The Selma Times-Journal reports that cotton has remained an important economical crop in Alabama due to generations of experience and research as well as the suitability of the Southern soil to the production of the crop. Sandier soils help drain water while the crop’s resilient nature allows it to handle the Southern heat and recover from several weeks of dry weather with just one or two rain events. In fact while many areas of the country have decreased cotton acreage over the last few years Alabama’s acreage has been on the rise, with just Dallas County jumping from 4450 acres in 2009 to over 10,000 acres in 2012. Crop management practices have also seen shifts as growers attempt to better control their fields and resources to maximize crop potential regardless of weather and other conditions.
