Are you encouraged about the prospect of increased cotton acres in 2014?

Frank Carey
Valent, Olive Branch, Miss.

At Valent, we are very excited about the possibility of increased cotton acres in 2014. This certainly ties in nicely with our new Fierce herbicide that will help us in the ongoing battle with resistant pigweeds. We had good cotton last year even in situations where we didn’t think we could make it. I am just really excited to see those acres coming back. There is a real sense of anticipation and optimism for cotton producers here in the Mid-South. Let’s  hope that conditions will help us deliver a good crop.

 


Jonas Noe
Cherokee Fabrication, Malden, Mo.

It is great news that we might be looking at increased  cotton acres here in the Mid-South and in other regions of the Belt. This could have a real trickle-down effect on all sectors of the cotton industry – from the farm to the gin and on into manufacturing. Our company recently built a new gin in south Georgia, and this is the kind of acreage trend that we like to see. This shows that cotton is still strong.

 


Jay Golz
Dow AgroSciences, Oxford, Miss.

At Dow AgroSciences, we anticipate that cotton acres will increase in 2014, and that is definitely good news. I talked to a lot of producers at the Mid-South Farm and Gin Show in Memphis. All of them were very positive about this possibility. No matter how you view the market, I think there is a lot of momentum behind cotton right now. With all of the market surveys that we do internally, this is what we are hearing. Of course, we also know that Mid-South producers have a lot of flexibility and can wait until the last minute to make a decision on what to plant. That can make it difficult to forecast what will happen.

 


Kater Hake
Cotton Incorporated, Cary, N.C.

This is great news for U.S. cotton. It sends a message to the rest of the world that cotton is a reliable, stable crop in our country. This is what gives us a lot of the footprint in terms of working with suppliers – whether it’s biotech, seeds or equipment. Historically, the United States also has been the No. 1 supplier of exported cotton. So, no matter how this trend is viewed, we can see some positive impact in the domestic and export markets.

 


Mark Williams
Producer, Farwell, Texas

It is encouraging to hear this kind of report, and we feel that the area around Lubbock, Texas, will pretty much be all cotton. We also anticipate new cotton acres north of Lubbock. This acreage previously was in corn and grain sorghum, but the water district is limiting the amount of water that can be pumped. This is probably the reason farmers are willing to try cotton again in this area. I am encouraged by this trend, and the gin that I am associated with is hoping this will increase the amount of cotton it can handle this year. Having said this, we still need rain to help break the drought.

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