by George Jared (gjared@talkbusiness.net)
If the newest harvest projections hold, U.S. farmers will harvest the least number of cotton acres in over 150 years. A crippling drought across many parts of the South and West is causing farmers to abandon fields at a record rate, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“USDA projected this year’s harvested acres at 7.13 million,” said Scott Stiles, extension economist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. “That would be the lowest since 1868.”
Stiles said the USDA’s latest report projected that about 43% of U.S. planted cotton acres are expected to be abandoned this year, “largely due to the extreme drought conditions in the southwest region, which includes Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas.”
