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• By Cecilia Parsons • California's 2019 cotton crop will struggle this year as a result of late spring rains, shaky pricing and the loss of a key crop-protection material, according to farmers and marketers. Roger Isom, president of the California...

The U.S. cotton harvest was moving along rapidly at the time of this writing (early November). Although picking efforts in Texas lagged the normal pace, harvest across most of the Cotton Belt advanced well, producing a good quality crop. The Memphis Territory (Ark., Ala., La., Miss. and Tenn.) is expecting about 3.3 million bales, and the USDA has classed 2.2 million to date. About 900,000 bales of the 2.8 million expected from Georgia and Florida have been classed to date, as have 1.9 million of TexaJan 2015 Cotton Farming_Page_08_Image_0001s and Oklahoma’s expected 6.6 million bales. In the first third of classings to be completed this season country- wide, 73.2 percent are of tenderable qualities. We are in agreement with the USDA and believe the United States will produce 15.9 million bales in the 2014/15 season. More noteworthy is the percentage of much sought after high grades with long staple. The Memphis territory has produced around 73 percent middling (31) and better color, and 44 percent

The outlook for Australia’s cotton production in 2015 is turning increasingly downbeat. An unusually hot and dry October crimped early germination and depleted local irrigation supplies. Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology reported the country as a whole saw the seventh driest and hottest October on record. The main cotton-producing states of Queensland (ninth driest) and New South Wales (twelfth driest) saw an unusually dry October, with rainfall only 23 percent and 34 percent of their mean October amounts, respectively. It was the same for heat across the two key cotton-producing states. In fact, after commencing with temperatures generally near average, October developed into an unusually warm month with well-above-average temperatures across the entire country. This intensification of heat later coincided with the typical acceleration in cotton plantings, suggesting temperatures may have been too hot, too soon, for young seedlings.

BY BRUNO ZANUTTO MANAGER/COTTON GROUP FCSTONE DO BRAZIL LTDA. INTL FCStone Inc. It's hard to remember but at one time Brazil, now the world’s fifth largest cotton producer,er, was once a net cotton importer. Production was limited by the climate diversity of the...

BY JIM LAMBERT DIRECTOR OF SALES FCSTONE MERCHANT SERVICES INTL FCStone Inc. 15 cotton season started off with a thump as most of the country’s key cotton-producing provinces experienced adverse weather conditions, which delayed planting. Despite the early setback, farmers were able to...

BY CHRIS KRAMEDJIAN RISK MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT, COTTON FCSTONE LLC INTL FCStone Inc. As a long-time runnerup to China’s cotton story, India is now taking center stage, at least as the world’s largest producer. India’s agriculture is critically dependent on the monsoon, and this...

BY GARY RAINES COMMODITY NETWORK CHIEF ECONOMIST, FIBERS AND TEXTILES INTL FCStone Inc. With cotton production increasingly concentrated in one province, Xin-jiang, and a generous subsidy now in place for pro- ducers of the fiber located there, the Chinese government finally has announced...

The 2013 Cotton Ginner Schools offered a wealth of information – from maintenance to safety – to increase ginners’ proficiency and provide gin managers/owners updates on the latest ginning technology and industry issues. In addition, certified ginners were able...