YOUR TEXAS AGRICULTURE MINUTE

Less than half of Texas cotton crop to be harvested

By Gary Joiner
Publisher

Fields of white cotton are synonymous with the Texas landscape.

This year, those blooming fields are sadly few and far between.

Texas farmers planted about 7.1 million acres of cotton this year. Agronomists are predicting less than half—about 2.2 million acres—will be harvested.

That’s a sobering number for family farmers. The economic reality sends ripples throughout rural communities and businesses.

Crop insurance is a valuable safety net, and it’s catching many Texas cotton growers this year.

What’s different this year is that even irrigated cotton acres were abandoned due to drought. Some growers in the South Plains went more than a year with virtually no precipitation. It’s the first time some farmers had to abandon irrigated acres in decades of experience.

The rain falling in recent days on abandoned acres will hopefully provide moisture for next year’s cotton crop.

We can only hope more is on the way. 

The preceding commentary is brought to you by Texas Farm Bureau, the “Voice of Texas Agriculture.” Called “Your Texas Agriculture Minute,” TFB will issue thought-provoking editorials each week—via print and audio—to spark understanding of agriculture in the Lone Star State and its impact on each and every Texan.

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