More Cotton Acres In LA In '22?

By Don Molino

Voice of Louisiana Agriculture Radio Network

Louisiana cotton producers only planted just over one hundred thousand acres this just completed growing season. At one time, Louisiana had over a million acres of white gold.

But a lot of those acres were switched to corn since it was cheaper to grow and prices were higher. But that’s not the case anymore with December cotton selling for well over a dollar a pound and December ‘22 cotton staying above 90 cents a pound.

So, East Carroll Parish producer Ted Schneider—who also serves as vice-chair of the National Cotton Council—believes we will probably see more acres planted to cotton next year in Louisiana.

“I think you’ll see an increase in cotton in Louisiana. The yields were petty good this year. Corn has been a really big rotation crop for us, but the cost of fertilizer has tripled.

“For 2021 I paid $190 per ton for liquid nitrogen (but) for 2022 that cost is at $600 (per ton). So I think you'll see an increase in cotton because of decent prices for cotton and the cost of growing other crops.

“Fertilizer dependent crops are going to be risky.”