The Beltwide Cotton Economic Economics and Marketing Conference included a presentation by Cotton Incorporated Senior Economist Jon Devine on how the COVID pandemic impacted cotton supply chains in 2020. Devine says the retail segment was hit the hardest, building on already declining sales in stores. “I think the transition was already underway in terms of pushing clothing purchases away from …
Hurricanes May Have Increased Cotton Seed Coat Fragments
The National Cotton Council is pleased that USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service will be collaborating with the Georgia Department of Agriculture to study the significant increase in seed coat fragments being found in 2020 season Southeast cotton classing samples. The AMS Macon, GA Classing Office has reportedly classed 2.2 million samples, of which approximately 895,000 contained seed coat fragments. In addition …
U.S. Cotton Market Outlook from NCC
National Cotton Council Vice President of Economics and Policy Analysis Jody Campiche gave her annual cotton market outlook Tuesday during the Beltwide Cotton Conferences. Campiche discussed the impacts of COVID-19 on retail demand, which dropped more than 80 percent in April, as well as unharvested acres due to drought in the West, and quality issues from hurricanes in the Southeast. …
New Ag Committee Leadership is Cotton Friendly
Presumptive new leadership in both the House and Senate Agriculture Committees for this coming Congress includes two lawmakers with cotton roots. Agricultural economist Bart Fischer, Co-Director of the Agricultural & Food Policy Center at Texas A&M University, gave a policy update Tuesday during the virtual Beltwide Cotton Economic Outlook conference. He says while the political landscape is still somewhat uncertain …
EPA Pesticide Program Update for Cotton
The 2021 virtual Beltwide Cotton Consultants Conference Tuesday included an update from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Pesticide Programs on crop protection products important to cotton growers. Michael Goodis, Acting Deputy Director, provided information on a number of pesticides, including dicamba. In this excerpt from his presentation, Goodis explains the process that went into determining the final registration …
Weather Forecasting Tops Cotton Consultants Conference
From drought to hurricanes, weather is the single biggest variable for any farming operation, so first up this morning for the 2021 Beltwide Cotton Consultants Conference General Session was atmospheric scientist Eric Snodgrass with Nutrien Ag Solutions. Snodgrass took participants on an interesting journey from the Dust Bowl of the 1930s to what weather may lie ahead in the next …
2021 Beltwide Cotton Begins Winter of Virtual Meetings
The National Cotton Council (NCC) 2021 Beltwide Cotton Conferences kicks off the winter virtual meeting schedule this week January 5-7. The virtual platform, utilizing existing on-line meeting technology, will include three days of live-streamed individual reports and panel discussions from the technical sessions along with poster presentations and seminars designed to provide attendees with information they need to help producers …
EPA Announces Dicamba Registration Decision
With a background of cotton ready for harvest, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced Tuesday the approval of new five-year registrations for two dicamba products and extending the registration of an additional dicamba product for use by cotton and soybean growers. All three registrations include new control measures to ensure these products can be used effectively while protecting …
2021 American Farm Bureau Convention Goes Virtual
It is starting to look like most conventions kicking off 2021 will be going virtual. The American Farm Bureau Federation announced today that its 102nd Annual Convention will be held virtually following the cancellation of all events through Jan. 31, 2021, at the San Diego Convention Center where the convention was scheduled to take place. The AFBF virtual convention will …
USDA Lowers Corn, Soybean and Cotton Estimates
USDA is now forecasting smaller corn and soybean crops for this year, compared to last month’s estimate, but still higher than last year. According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) October Crop Production report, acreage updates were made in several states based on a thorough review of all available data. Corn production for grain is forecast at 14.7 billion …