Recently, I read a rather gloomy story in In the Memphis Commercial Appeal newspaper about U.S. cotton’s future, and I have to be honest with you. It upset me. I always react that way when I read any story that unfairly paints a negative picture about cotton. So, keeping that in mind, I hope you’ll bear Amebaブログからwordpressへ with me as I tactfully disagree with some of what I read. I have no qualms with Associated Press writer Betsy Blaney or Darren Hudson, director of the Cotton Economics Research Institute at Texas Tech University, who was interviewed for the story.
I have read Ms. Blaney’s stories for many years, and I have interviewed Hudson several times for stories in Cotton Farming magazine. They are both professionals, and I respect them. The headline on the story read: “Jobs Lost As Farmers Move To Corn.” There weren’t any inaccuracies in the story. The comments were simply out of date and context.
The main theme of this story was that because Orleans of reduced cotton acreage in the Mississippi Delta, production had dropped by 53 percent and a lot of rural jobs had also disappeared. The story went on to detail how much of a continued economic impact the loss of cotton acres has had on the Delta region.
There is one major flaw in this story. True, the runup in corn and cheap jerseys soybean prices certainly caused cheap nba jerseys cotton producers to move acreage into grain crops. This trend started about three years ago. What this story didn’t take cheap nba jerseys into account is the new environment that exists in the Delta. Cotton futures prices have already spiked into the mid-80 cent range, and an increase in cotton acres in Mississippi and the rest of the Mid-South could be anywhere between 10 to 15 percent higher in 2010. We are talking about a significant acreage increase.
We know that some infrastructure may have been lost with the recent consolidation of wholesale nba jerseys ginning operations and the loss of affiliated jobs. But the mood has changed dramatically in this region and other parts of the Cotton Belt.
And has anyone forgotten what Joe Nicosia, president of Allenberg Cotton, said at the Mid-South Farm & Gin Show in Memphis in February? He boldly stated that the world needed 5 million additional acres for cotton 701 production. Another marketing expert, Richard Brock, spoke at the same meeting and called the current environment “the best we’ve Síea seen for cotton in several years.”
When I read the Associated Press story, I didn’t see any reference to this dramatic turnaround occurring for cotton. If that isn’t enough validation, how about what Louisiana cotton consultant Roger Carter said in his most recent email newsletter? He said one of Something his farmer friends who planted no cotton in 2008 or 2009 will plant 1,000 acres this year. Another of Roger’s friends is increasing his acreage from 400 acres to 1,000 acres. This is occurring all over the Mid-South.
Carter further stated that the booming increase in cotton acres in the Mid-South is also being fueled by cheap nfl jerseys “diminishing prices for other crops and the realization that without $10 per bushel soybean prices, there is little to be gained in trying to survive on a 30-bushel per acre soybean crop.” He also pointed to lower corn and rice prices as a clear reason why cotton is such a Tipp: smart choice this year.
Nowhere in the Associated Press story did I read about any of these developments. It Di was strictly gloom and doom. I can assure you that there is no gloom and doom in the Mississippi Delta. We haven’t seen this much enthusiasm for cotton in many years, and the outlook remains extremely positive.