Cotton Continued from Page 3
Michael said water supplies and com- modity prices were factors in growers’ de- cisions to plant cotton this season. “With tomato prices declining, there ar- en’t many good options, so growers are pick- ing cheaper crops to grow,” Michael said. Gary Martin, who farms tree and row crops near Firebaugh, said he increased his cotton acres by about 15% this year, adding he wasn’t able to plant some of his land last year due to flooding. Because pima requires a longer season to mature than upland varieties, growers try to plant by April 20. This year, Martin finished planting April 27. “I didn’t have a choice. What else are you going to plant?” he said. Much of the state’s cotton ground is served by south-of-delta water districts that are part of the federal Central Valley Project, which last month announced a 40% water allocation. This is despite full reservoirs and a slightly above-normal snowpack. CVP exchange contractors, which have senior water rights, will receive 100% allo- cations. Martin is in one of those districts and will receive full deliveries. The CVP announced an initial water allocation of 15% in mid-February as many growers were making planting plans. Without knowing whether that quantity would increase, Michael said
A tractor works a young cotton field in Merced County. Cotton is regarded as a less expensive crop to grow than processing tomatoes. Still, some cotton farmers are grappling with disappointing water deliveries, along with high interest rates and other market challenges.
many growers chose cotton, which is less expensive to plant and more drought tolerant than tomatoes. Because of its quality, California ELS cotton has historically earned substan- tially more per pound than upland variet- ies. California ELS is running about $2 per pound, which Barcellos said doesn’t even cover production costs. “Because of the regulations we have, we have higher costs of inputs, higher labor costs. It’s just really challenging,” he said. Barcellos pointed to reduced demand for home textiles, which include high-end
sheets and towels, for some of the market malaise. About 60% to 70% of the state’s ELS cotton goes into these products. “That market has just gone away with the recession and high interest rates,” he said. “People just aren’t buying high-dollar sheets and towels like they used to.” While the retail side has been OK, he said buyers are still purchasing hand to mouth. One of the challenges with pima, Martin said, is growers can’t lock in a price with a futures contract on one of the commodity trading platforms. This leaves them to take whatever price the market will offer at the
time they want to sell. “As far as new crop, we’re a little con- cerned once all of this increase of acreage gets out there and the effect it will have on the market,” Martin said. Although growers keep hoping sales and prices will rebound, Barcellos said they ha- ven’t seen it yet. When interest rates were much lower, it was easier to pencil out warehousing processed cotton bales until the market picked up. But he said interest rates topping 7% “really hurt.” (Vicky Boyd is a reporter in Modesto. She may be contacted at vlboyd@att.net.)
4 Ag Alert May 22, 2024
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