US Farmers To Plant Least Cotton Acres For A Century In 2009
They may have to change the words of that song "Them Old Cotton Fields Back Home" to "That Old Cotton Field Back Home" before long.
US farmers will plant between 7 and 8 million acres of cotton in 2009, the lowest in more than a century, according to experts.
In 1983, U.S. farmers planted 7.93 million acres, the lowest since the Department of Agriculture began keeping records in 1909.
The U.S. began the marketing year Aug. 1 with stockpiles of 9.9 million bales, the highest since 1967, according to USDA data. A bale weighs 480 pounds.
Texas is the biggest grower in the U.S. followed by Georgia and Arkansas. Farmers there are being wooed away from cotton by more profitable crops such as soybeans, corn and wheat, according to Globecot, a division of FCStone.
US farmers will plant between 7 and 8 million acres of cotton in 2009, the lowest in more than a century, according to experts.
In 1983, U.S. farmers planted 7.93 million acres, the lowest since the Department of Agriculture began keeping records in 1909.
The U.S. began the marketing year Aug. 1 with stockpiles of 9.9 million bales, the highest since 1967, according to USDA data. A bale weighs 480 pounds.
Texas is the biggest grower in the U.S. followed by Georgia and Arkansas. Farmers there are being wooed away from cotton by more profitable crops such as soybeans, corn and wheat, according to Globecot, a division of FCStone.