Texas Loses 3 Million Bales; Supply Sufficient to Meet the World's Demand

By Jim.Robinson|August 18, 2011

Steve Verett considers himself to be a person who sees the glass as half-full, but the dire drought situation in Texas has forced him to paint a bleak – albeit realistic – picture of the expected cotton output there. Verett, executive vice president of Lubbock, Texas-based Plains Cotton Growers, Inc., voiced those concerns when he briefed the Agricultural Committee of the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce on the impact of drought on cotton production last week.

The High Plains region, which is the United States’ largest cotton-producing area, will see a drastic abandonment of acres due to severe, dry weather. Of the 2.5 million acres of dryland cotton planted this year, about 2 million of them have failed so far. Growers also planted about 2 million acres of irrigated cotton in this region, more than 10 percent of which (214,000 acres) had already failed by early August. Verett said the High Plains region could expect a harvest of about of 1.8 million acres and a production of 2 million bales of cotton.

Last year, the High Plains region harvested 3.5 million acres, with total production of 5.3 million bales. Given the extreme drought conditions, there will be a loss of 3.3 million bales of cotton from the High Plains area, Verett says. When questioned about the global supply, Verett said, “Demand side is the key factor.” He expects that the world will have just enough cotton to meet demand; the production loss in the United States should be offset by production increases in Brazil, India, and China.

The global economic situation and the volatility in the stock markets are expected to moderate the demand for textiles and other non-essential items, which could create a balance in the supply and demand situation, Verett said.