Cotton acreage down in 09; Texas to grow 57% of US crop

U.S. cotton producers intend to plant 8.11 million acres of cotton this spring, down 14 percent from 2008, according to the National Cotton Council’s 26th Annual Early Season Planting Intentions Survey released Friday afternoon. Upland cotton intentions are 7.97 million acres, a decrease of 14 percent from 2008. Extra long staple (ELS) intentions of 142,000 acres represent a 19 percent decline from 2008. The results were announced at the NCC’s 2009 Annual Meeting in Washington, DC. Assuming an average abandonment rate of 9.4 percent, total upland and ELS harvested area would be about 7.35 million acres. Applying state-level yield assumptions to projected harvested acres generates a cotton crop of 12.76 million bales, compared to 2008’s total production of 13.04 million bales. Assuming average seed-to-lint ratios, 2009 cottonseed production is projected at 4.35 million tons, down from 4.43 million last year. The NCC survey was mailed in mid-December, 2008 to producers across the 17-state Cotton Belt. Survey responses were collected through mid-January. Based on survey results, all four regions show intended upland cotton planting area decreases from last season. The West and Mid-South show the largest percentage drops of 31 and 23 percent, respectively. Smaller reduction of 18 and 9 percent are expected in the Southeast and Southwest, respectively. Only two states indicated upland expansion, Kansas at 7 percent and Florida at 3 percent.