2016 Upland Cotton Marketing Assistance Loan Rate Set

By Jim Steadman|October 2, 2015

Commodity Credit Corporation Executive Vice President Val Dolcini has announced that the marketing assistance loan rate for 2016-crop base quality upland cotton will be set at 52 cents per pound.

Base quality upland cotton will have the following characteristics – color grade 41, leaf grade 4, staple length 1-1/16 inches, micronaire 3.5-3.6 and 4.3-4.9, strength 26.0-28.9 grams per tex, and length uniformity of 80.0-81.9 percent.

The 2014 Farm Bill sets the base quality marketing assistance loan rate for upland cotton at the simple average of the adjusted prevailing world price for the two immediately preceding marketing years, as determined by the Secretary of Agriculture and announced October 1, before the next domestic plantings.

The marketing assistance loan rate cannot be less than 45 cents per pound or greater than 52 cents per pound. The 2016 upland cotton loan rate was set at the higher end of the scale because the calculation exceeded the maximum allowed level.