The International Textile Manufacturers Federation’s “Cotton Contamination Survey 2013″ shows the level of cottons moderately or seriously contaminated worldwide increased from 23 percent to 26 percent compared to the last survey in 2011. Though U.S. cotton still is considered one of the least contaminated growths, the survey found that plastics, stickiness and seed-coat fragments, along with other foreign materials Read More »
Before it was signed into law in mid-June by President Obama, the Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA) was overwhelmingly approved by the House (412-4) and Senate (91-7). The WRRDA authorizes the construction of major navigation and flood risk management projects. Of additional significance to agriculture is that the new measure also contains language designed to give farmers and ranchers some relief from EPA’s Spill Prevention Control Read More »
The NCC is working to ensure that U.S. cotton warehouses understand why compliance with the minimum shipping standard in the USDA Commodity Credit Corporation's Cotton Storage Agreement is vital to the cotton industry's health. The NCC's Board of Directors earlier this year approved a NCC Cotton Flow Committee recommendation that will give USDA the ability to see shipping order scheduling exchanges between merchants and warehouses. Read More »
How will cotton transition payments be paid? This was a popular question raised at the education meetings. Due to the late passage of new farm legislation and necessary implementation timelines, new insurance products will not be available until the 2015 crop. To bridge the gap, upland cotton will have a transition payment for the 2014 crop. The payment equates to 5.4 cents/pound paid on all 2013 base acres and direct payment yield. The payment extends to Read More »
Because herbicide resistance is undermining efficient U.S. cotton production, the National Cotton Council continues to urge its producer members to be proactive and creative in dealing with this serious threat. How is the NCC helping? Foremost, the NCC is strongly encouraging its producer members to actively manage herbicide resistance, which is defined as the evolved capacity of a susceptible weed population to withstand a herbicide Read More »
The new farm bill repeals the direct and counter-cyclical programs and authorizes a new revenue insurance product that can be purchased in addition to a producer’s existing coverage. However, enactment of the new law came too late for USDA and the private sector to offer the Stacked Income Protection Plan (STAX) until 2015. Then, it will be available for purchase on all acres planted to upland cotton. As with existing insurance products, STAX Read More »
Since 2011, the Chinese government has purchased and stored almost 75 million bales of its production at a price well above world market prices. To meet its textile mills’ demand, about 20 million bales of that cotton have been sold, but as of early 2014, more than 50 million bales still resided in government storage.China’s stocks policy has been a recent boost for U.S. cotton farmers because its textile industry looked increasingly to the world market Read More »
Cotton Farming One Grower Publications
