FEATURED NEWS STORY

Cotton Belt Producers to Focus on Wide Variety of Crops in 2015

The National Cotton Council released its “32^nd Annual Early Season Planting Intentions Survey” on Feb. 6, showing that farmers across the 17-state Cotton Belt may use large portions of their land previously devoted to cotton, for crops such as soybeans and corn in 2015.

All of the respondents from the Mid-South region, with the exception of five states, claimed that some cotton acres will be used for soybeans for 2015. In the Southeast, a portion of cotton acreage will go toward peanuts, corn and soybeans.

Respondents from the West region said that they may shift some cotton areas to wheat or “other crops.” In New Mexico, for instance, cotton acreage is being used for more grain crops.

However, the most diverse responses appeared to come from the Southeast region, where some states plan to plant certain crops more than others. For example, Alabama seemed to be focusing on peanuts and soybeans, while Florida primarily plans to devote some cotton land to peanuts. Georgia farmers will likely plant soybeans, corn and peanuts, and North Carolina looks to be honing in on soybeans alone.

The NCC questionnaire was mailed to producers across the 17-state Cotton Belt in mid-December 2014. The goal was to determine how many acres are being devoted to cotton planting, as well as other crops, in 2015. The survey responses were collected in mid-January 2015. Actual planting data will be influenced by changing market conditions and weather over time.