PLAINS COTTON ADVISORY GROUP MEETING
7:30 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 8 8303 Aberdeen Avenue in Lubbock.
(Zoom option if you can’t attend in person.)
The region’s 2024 cotton crop will be better than the past two years, according to Mark Brown, director of field services for Plains Cotton Growers, an industry group serving 42 counties across the South Plains and Panhandle including Dickens County.
Brown visits with producers, gins and industry groups throughout the region. “We did get more rain than the last two years,” he said, “but August was cruel to us. Dryland cotton ran out of moisture in August, and irrigated crops also suffered. But we do anticipate this year being better than the past two years.”
Another challenge in 2024 was heat, with 2024 and 2023 the second and third hottest years on record (producers likely recall that 2011 was the hottest year recorded).
He indicated that the average yield for the PCG area is 3.7 million bales, and the best estimate for this year will likely range from 2.2 to 2.4 million bales. The last two years have averaged 1.5 million bales.
About 60 percent of the cotton in the PCG area is dryland cotton.
Brown said he doesn’t expect this year to be a long ginning season, either, but “that all depends on the weather. We were happy for the rain on November 2, most places that we serve got between 2 and 3 inches.”
The rains slow down the harvesting, however. “The gins are still operating, but there’s more rain coming,” he said. “If that comes, the gins will get caught up and may have to pause.”
Brown said he expected many gins to be done by Thanksgiving, depending on the weather. “I think everyone should be done by Christmas,” he said.
Prices are down for cotton, averaging 68 cents per pound, which is 25 percent less than they were as recently as 2018 when the last federal farm bill was passed.
Failure to get a farm bill passed in Congress creates a financial hardship because prices are down 25 percent, and costs have increased 25 percent due to inflation and interest rates, Brown said. “That’s why it’s so critical for us to get a new farm bill, hopefully, before the end of the year. If we don’t get it by the end of this year, we have to start over” when a new Congress is seated.
“We need everyone to reach out to their congressmen and senators to support the farm bill,” he added.
A new bill aimed at offsetting financial pressure for farmers while waiting on a farm bill was introduced last week.
The bipartisan Farmer Assistance and Revenue Mitigation (FARM) Act of 2024, authored by U.S. Rep. Trent Kelly (R-Miss.), would provide assistance to farmers when their revenue falls below the cost of production due to circumstances beyond their control.
Original co-sponsors from Texas include Brian Babin, John Carter, Henry Cuellar, Monica De La Cruz, Jake Ellzey, Pat Fallon, Tony Gonzales, Vicente Gonzalez, Lance Gooden, Ronny Jackson, Michael McCaul, Nathaniel Moran, Troy Nehls, August Pfluger, Pete Sessions, Marc Veasey and Randy Weber.
Thislegislationhasbeen supported by the American Farm Bureau Federation, Tennessee Farm Bureau, Mississippi Farm Bureau, American Soybean Association, National Association of Wheat Growers, National Barley Growers Association, National Cotton Council, National Sorghum Producers, National Sunflower Association, U.S. Canola Association, U.S. Peanut Federation, USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council, USA Rice, and the Western Peanut Growers Association.
