Cotton Grower has been presenting its Cotton Achievement Award since 1970. Listen in as we present our 2024 award to Ted Schneider of Lake Providence, LA.
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Cotton producers in Louisiana may be eligible for Loan Deficiency Payments (LDP) from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA). LDPs are payments made to producers who, although eligible to obtain a Marketing Assistance Loan, agree to forgo the loan in return for a payment on the eligible commodity. The deadline to apply for an LDP on 2024 crop-year cotton is May 31, 2025.
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Cotton found a rollercoaster ride on the week, slipping down to the 63-cent level that we forecast. But a bit of profit taking on the heels of a solid export sales report saw a triple-digit price increase back to the 65-66 cent prior lows. May fell to a low of 62.54 low at midweek and settled the week at 66.07. The rally then ran into the nine-day moving average in the 65.75 cent area on Thursday and could go no higher.
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U.S. cotton acres planted are expected to drop 14.5% this year according to the National Cotton Council’s survey. If realized, this would be the lowest acreage since 2015 and the sixth lowest going back all the way to 1975. Yet last week (Feb. 28), cotton prices (nearby old crop May 2025 futures) dropped to 65 cents – the lowest in roughly five years. New crop December 2025 stands at roughly 68 cents.
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Soil organic matter improves soil chemical properties, which includes the increase of nutrient status, cation exchange capacity (CEC), and anion exchange capacity. Soil organic matter is also known for the slow release of nutrients to the plants, protects nutrients in available forms to the plants, and reduces nutrient leaching.
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U.S. cotton producers intend to plant 9.6 million cotton acres this spring, down 14.5% from 2024, according to the National Cotton Council’s 44th Annual Early Season Planting Intentions Survey.
Upland cotton intentions are 9.4 million acres, down 14.4% from 2024, while extra-long staple (ELS) intentions of 158,000 acres represent a 23.5% decline.
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The U.S. cotton industry is robust, and Missouri ginner Jeff Lindsey understands that very well. Now that he is in the final weeks of his presidency of the Southern Cotton Ginners Association (SCGA), he even better recognizes the grand scale.
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The farm economy has been tightening for years and now, 2025 could be make or break for some farmers. With that in mind, the MidSouth Farm and Gin Show is focusing on programming to help farmers find small ways to reduce expenses or increase profitability, according to the show’s director Tim Price.
“We’ve been in a cycling of tightening belts on farms and in agricultural budgets for a while now,” Price explains.
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After a full week of lower prices, the market renewed its teasing with four consecutive days of higher moves. That appeared positive until one realized that the weekly March settlement was only 65.63 – up a few meager 10 or so points on the week.
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As cotton producers prepare for #Plant25, over 20 new cotton varieties are commercially available. Here is the annual roundup, featuring the 2025 releases that provide an array of options for farmers throughout the Cotton Belt.
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I started attending the Beltwide Cotton Conferences in 1985, so I think this year represents my ruby anniversary. New Orleans was fun – good friends, good food, and lots of discussion about the cotton market. Here are a few points that I picked up on in the Economics and Marketing section.
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Cotton hit a positive note this past week in the export sales report, but we will need more. Too, there is another positive note that merits a few comments as well
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Ben McKnight, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife State Extension Cotton Specialist, was named the 2025 Beltwide Extension Cotton Specialist of the Year during the recent Beltwide Cotton Conferences in New Orleans, LA.
The 36th recipient of the award, McKnight received the honor during an awards dinner sponsored by Bayer Crop Science.
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The 2024/25 U.S. corn outlook calls for lower production, feed and residual use, exports, and ending stocks. Corn production has been revised downward by some 276 million bushels to an estimated 14.9 billion bushels, mainly due to a 3.8-bushel per acre cut in yield to 179.3 bushels which was partially offset by a 0.2-million acre increase in harvested area. Total corn use is down 75 million bushels to 15.1 billion.
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Demand for U.S. cotton has appeared weak for several years. The weak demand was balanced out by short U.S. cotton crops in 2022 (drought) and 2023 (drought, too wet, and then too hot). 2024 started off promising but ended with a mix of wet/hot/dry in places around the Cotton Belt. Some folks had decent production, but most everybody was sunk by the market, which fell from the mid-80s to under 70 cents between early planting season and harvest.
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