If you want to understand China's agricultural policy, look no further than its people. Keeping them happy drives many of the government's economic decisions. For this reason, China is likely to keep its huge reserve of cotton off the market for the time being....More
The Chinese government's decision to support domestic cotton prices at 40 cents more than the Cotton Outlook A Index is impacting world markets and U.S. producers....More
Growers considering a shift from cotton to sorghum should put the pencil to it once more. With futures prices steadily over 80 cents per pound and early gin contracts offering nice premiums, irrigated cotton could mean $200 or more in return per acre....More
Recent upticks in cotton prices and recent precipitation across a good portion of cotton country may have moved the a few acres back into the cotton column. But a lot of uncertainty remains, according to cotton specialists....More
Have U.S. cotton producers been too hasty in their plans for wholesale shifts to grain this season? That’s a question many were asking after listening to Joe Nicosia, executive vice president, Louis Dreyfus Commodities, speaking at an ag update meeting at the Mid-South Farm and Gin Show....More
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack received a thunderous ovation from a standing room only crowd at the recently completed Commodity Classic when he admonished the U.S. Congress to, “Forget about your party, forget about the people who paid for your last campaign, forget about your next campaign, and just do your job.”...More
China has been a puzzle for most of the cotton-producing and consuming sectors since the time President Nixon opened the country to the rest of the world in the early 1970s....More
Which cotton varieties do you plant this year? Here's a look at the latest new varieties from major seed companies in the Southeast, Mid-South and Southwest....More
China is the biggest buyer of U.S. grown cotton and of long-term critical importance to the industry is convincing the Chinese to use more cotton in their domestic production....More
The U.S. cotton industry has a lot at stake in the debate over writing a new farm bill, but U.S. cotton producers have more to lose than other U.S. commodity groups if Congress fails to address one overriding issue....More
More than 450 exhibits, featuring the latest in equipment, products, and services await you at the 61st Mid-South Farm and Gin Show, which begins today (Friday, March 1) at the downtown Cook Convention Center in Memphis....More
The 61st Mid-South Farm and Gin Show gets under way tomorrow (Friday, March 1) at the downtown Cook Convention Center in Memphis, offering more than 400 exhibits of the latest equipment, products, and services for the 2013 farming season....More
Dr. Wayne Smith, Texas A&M University soil and crop sciences associate department head, has been named Plant Breeder of the Year and the first recipient of the B.B. Singh Crop Science Award....More
Growers and crop consultants across the Cotton Belt now have a new and freely accessible resource to “focus on” this year. Focus on Cotton, a crop management resource that features monthly webcasts from noted experts in the cotton industry, is now online....More
Even though William Carlton, Jr., (Junior to his friends) wasn’t raised on a farm, something about the challenges and opportunities of making a living from the soil always appealed to him....More
O.A. Cleveland can’t see 90-cent cotton—86 cents a pound, maybe.
“There is not a lot of cotton left in the world outside China,” Cleveland said during the Southwest Cotton Technology and Innovation Conference, sponsored by Bayer CropScience, in Austin, Texas....More
About this time each year, Southwest cotton specialists remind farmers that the most important decision they will make for the coming cotton crop is determining which varieties to plant.
It’s just as true this year as ever, says Texas AgriLife Extension Cotton Specialist Mark Kelley, located at the Lubbock Research and Extension Center....More
Jimmy Roppolo, an El Campo, Texas, ginner, was named the 2012 Horace Hayden National Cotton Ginner of the Year. He was recognized February 9 during the 2013 annual meeting of the Memphis-based National Cotton Ginners Association (NCGA) in Memphis, Tenn....More
Woods Eastland, board chairman of Staplcotn Cooperative Association and Staplcotn Discount Corporation in Greenwood, Miss., is the recipient of the 2012 Harry S. Baker Distinguished Service Award. He was honored Feb. 10 during the National Cotton Council’s 2013 annual meeting in Memphis, Tenn....More
