Exiled on Wall Street

It’s always a little funny when a journalist gets in over his or her head. No one knows this better than journalists. So when someone emailed Henry and me the column that ran in The Wall Street Journal on May 21, we would’ve chuckled – had we not been so appalled.

“The Madness of Cotton” was the headline to an editorial presumably authored by an entire editorial board there at the newspaper. A highlight:

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“…we’re glad to see that at least (Senator Robert Lugar) is willing to call out the absurdity of U.S. taxpayers subsidizing foreign farmers to satisfy the greed of a few American cotton growers.”

As you might expect, the column was full of factual errors and instances where selective editing provided only half of the story. As you might also expect, the piece was given a thorough dressing down by the hardworking people at the National Cotton Council.

They don’t come much smarter than the NCC’s Dr. Gary Adams, and this column was summarily smashed by Adams and his counterparts. We hope we’ve provided an accurate presentation of the NCC’s official response on page 13 of this issue, but it proved too lengthy to include the entire release. For the NCC’s entire response, search for “Madness” on our website, www.Cotton247.com.

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Undoubtedly, the editorial board at The Wall Street Journal has no concept of the costs involved in producing a cotton crop. But if they did, do you think they’d still be upset? What do you suppose they think cotton growers do with the Federal aid they receive? Gold plated tractors? Rolls Royces? Private jets?

In reality, we know that cotton is produced in what are historically the poorest parts of the nation. We also know, as countless studies have suggested, a dollar spent on cotton is turned around into the local economy at an exponentially higher rate than a dollar spent on a competitive crop.

No wonder then that the Associated Press Economic Stress Index, which is a monthly analysis of the economic condition of over 3,000 U.S. counties, revealed that cotton subsidies provided a vital prop to the poorest areas of the nation during the recent economic upheaval.

We were left wondering if The Wall Street Journal missed that report. Regardless, their column was probably the most blatant example of the disconnect between Wall Street and Main Street in recent memory.

At any rate, there are far more important issues for you to worry about than an ill-conceived editorial. We know you’re likely dealing with, among other things, late season insect pests (page 20) and weed resistance (page 10). And of course, you’re trying to beat the heat. Henry and I will be visiting with plenty of you on the farm this month. If we have our preference, it’ll be from the air-conditioned comfort of the truck cab. As always, we hope to see you out there.

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