(CARY, NC) – Cotton Incorporated announces today the appointment of William Kimbrell as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the company. This new position was created by Cotton Incorporated’s Board of Directors following the current President and Chief Executive Officer, J. Berrye Worsham’s retirement announcement effective December 2024. The position is in alignment with Cotton Incorporated’s Succession Plan …

Producers have until March 15th to make their sign-up elections (agriculture risk coverage (ARC) or price loss coverage (PLC)) with FSA and enroll for the 2023 crop year. Based on the number of calls we have been receiving, relatively high but volatile commodity prices for many of the covered commodities have at least a few producers confused as to what would …

Yesterday, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its February 2023 budget projections for a number of Federal programs, including farm-related programs and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).  All eyes are on the farm bill, which expires on September 30, 2023, and this latest update gives us an initial glimpse of the budget baseline that will be available to the farm bill authors …

U.S. cotton production is typically uncertain in any given year, in part because roughly half the acreage is in Texas.  Still, the 2023 season is starting off with a more than usual degree of uncertainty. First, the early season forecasts of U.S. cotton plantings vary by as much as two million acres, i.e., from 9.5 to 11.5 million acres.  Such …

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – U.S. cotton producers intend to plant 11.4 million cotton acres this spring, down 17.0 percent from 2022, according to the National Cotton Council’s 42nd Annual Early Season Planting Intentions Survey. (see table attached) Upland cotton intentions are 11.2 million acres, down 17.3 percent from 2022, while extra-long staple (ELS) intentions of 184,000 acres represent a 0.5 percent increase. …

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – National Cotton Council economists point to a few key factors that will shape the U.S. cotton industry’s 2023 economic outlook. This past year can be characterized as a year with significant uncertainty and volatility in the global economy and the world cotton market. The U.S. cotton industry continues to navigate an environment characterized by increased production costs, …

During Extension and commodity group meetings this winter, we have been asked over and over what will be in the next farm bill.  After answering with “it depends” – based on money and interest in bi-partisanship on Capitol Hill – we then go on to give our thoughts on what we think will be in the next farm bill.  At that point, …

The Georgia Cotton Commission’s Inaugural Trustees’ Awards were presented at the 2023 Georgia Cotton Commission Annual Meeting January 25 in Tifton. The Trustees’ Awards are awarded to individuals who have dedicated themselves to the advancement of the cotton industry in Georgia. Producers, research and extension specialists and other cotton industry associates of high character and integrity who have given exceptional …

Crop insurance is a widely adopted risk management tool for producers. Depending on a producer’s insurance plan, crop insurance can protect against losses due to yield or revenue. For cotton producers, if they select a crop insurance policy to protect them against the losses for revenue, several insurance plans are available, including Area Revenue Protection, Revenue Protection, and Stacked Income …

For well more than a decade, every year has brought a new wave of WOTUS uncertainty. At all but the stroke of midnight to close out 2022, the EPA announced the final revised WOTUS rule which is set to take effect this spring, 60 days after publication in the Federal Register. If headlines about WOTUS over the past decade have …

One of the questions we have been getting the most as agricultural policy economists is whether we are going to get a 2023 Farm Bill on time.  While there are dedicated teams of ag committee members and staff in the House of Representatives and Senate who are going to do their best to get a farm bill done on time, history …

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The National Cotton Council (NCC) applaudsHouse and Senate appropriations and agriculture committees’ leaders for seeing that essential assistance for the U.S. cotton industry was included in the FY23 omnibus spending package. Commended for their efforts on this important legislation areSenate Appropriations Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Ranking Member Richard Shelby (R-AL), along with Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee Chairwoman Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Ranking Member John Hoeven (R-ND); andHouse …