Cotton
Cotton futures hit contract highs as short covering lifted prices, but weak demand and rising costs are keeping profitability out of reach. Texas Tech’s Darren Hudson breaks down what it means for growers heading into 2026.
According to the National Cotton Council’s (NCC) Planting Intentions Survey, U.S. cotton producers intend to plant 9.0 million cotton acres this spring, a 3.2% decline from 2025, with a nearly 21% drop in the Mid-South.
As fertilizer prices remain high, cotton specialists urge growers to conduct timely soil tests to identify nutrient surpluses, reduce input costs, and enhance overall soil health for the upcoming 2026 season.
From Texas through the Mid-South, defoliation decisions are top of mind, while Georgia deals with a new insect threat, the jassid leafhopper, which has severely affected some acres.
It’s not just planting cotton farmers are battling this year. Soybeans are also struggling in the ground, and the corn is wind whipped or battered by hail and sand. With farmers staring at financial losses already this year, some worry this could push a growing number of them out of business.
While most states anticipate a reduction in their total number of cotton acres, some exceptions exist. Farmers in Arizona, Virginia and Kansas are expected to plant more cotton than their respective 3-year averages.
Cheap cotton prices and dwindling demand are just part of the problem. Input costs have climbed and there’s no safety net to be found from a new farm bill. One Georgia farmer says the current farm bill is irrelevant and worthless, and if a new one doesn’t get passed this year, the cotton industry is doomed.
Late-season rain cut into cotton harvest — another chapter in a year where too much early and mid-season rain inhibited growth, followed by drought and 100-degree days that parched peak season production.
Cleanup is underway, but it could take years to put the pieces back together. Farmers say with lower commodity prices, many were already on the financial brink before the storm.
Damage estimated between $95 billion and $110 billion. Farmers in South Georgia were assessing the damage to the state’s $1 billion cotton crop and $400 million pecan crop now in harvest season.
Two consecutive years of drought has been devastating for farmers in West Texas, and with forecasts of a transition to La Niña, economists and cotton leaders say it will force even more cotton farmers to call it quits.
While the expectation is for cotton acres to increase in the June acreage report, another key question is if cotton demand can continue to find footing and support higher prices.
West Texas is the largest cotton production area in the country, but after battling drought and heat, area farmers say the dryland crop is a failure, and the irrigated acres are only yielding half of normal.
Neil Lee’s cotton dealt with cool weather early on, which stunted the crop. It then turned off hot and dry. At harvest, he was thrilled to find “money bolls” at the bottom of the plant.
After a year of struggles in 2022, this year’s crop reaped weather that was much more favorable for growing cotton. Burlison, Tenn., farmer Brad Williams describes this year’s growing season as almost perfect.
East-central Texas farmers battled historic heat, along with no rain during the heart of the growing season. The outlook on the cotton crop was bleak, but one Texas farmer says cotton harvest produced several surprises.
While a few cotton fields flourished with yields to brag about at the gin, the majority of the region’s production suffered, from one weather extreme to another.
Farmers across the Texas High Plains received a deluge of rainfall right at planting, and while the moisture was needed, the sudden switch prevented some farmers from planting their intended cotton acres this year.
After consecutive years of drought, some areas of Texas are now breaking records for the wettest May ever. With most of their crop left to plant, it’s forcing farmers to make some tough decisions and crop changes.
Drought continues to tighten its grip across the Plains, forcing farmers in West Texas to make some very difficult decisions this growing season. It’s also causing concerns about crumbling cotton infrastructure.
Just ahead of USDA’s Prospective Plantings report, the largest cotton growing state in the U.S. is seeing another year of drought, and with fields resembling the Dust Bowl, crop prospects are dwindling by the day.
Early projections show a clear trend of higher input costs for 2023. Are these projections causing you to lock in inputs sooner or later? Take our poll!
The first-of-its-kind biotech trait is commercially available to farmers as Bollgard 3 ThryvOn cotton with XtendFlex Technology – just in time for the 2023 production season.
Cotton production will hang by the thin threads of demand in 2023 — and prices will likely sway in the 80¢ to 85¢ per pound range, depending on La Niña’s trajectory.
As the U.S. faces a declining cotton crop this year due to drought, will the U.S. lose cotton acres in the years to come? John Phipps thinks the answer depends on three factors: competition, climate, and clothing
Steven Ebeling admits farming in West Texas is never easy, but 2022 has been a brutal blow with the majority of the dryland acres already counted as a total loss, and irrigated acres are now struggling to survive.
Nearly 57% of Texas is in extreme drought, and with the most severe level of it parked over West Texas and the Texas Panhandle, the drought is starting to rob even irrigated fields of a crop.