CALIFORNIA
Field Crops A SPECIAL GROWERS’ REPORT OF AG ALERT ®
®
Estimates vary on how much cotton was planted this year in California, which produces 95% of the nation’s pima variety. But figures show acreage has fallen below 100,000 for the first time in a century.
Weather, prices shrink cotton acreage in California By Vicky Boyd
Of USDA’s California estimate, 70,000 acres were long-staple, premium pima varieties that typically net more than double the price of the shorter-staple upland or acala varieties grown mostly in Texas and the South. California’s remaining 13,000 acres are upland varieties, according to the USDA report, and most of those are grown for planting seed because of the state’s near-ideal growing conditions. California produces about 95% of the nation’s pima. Because the variety requires a much longer growing season than upland cotton, Isom said it must be planted in late March or early April. Aaron Barcellos, a partner in the family-owned A-Bar Ag Enterprises in Fresno County, said cold, wet weather along with low prices prompted them to reduce pima plantings to about 750 acres this year. Without those factors, he said they probably would have had double the acreage. “Primarily, we just couldn’t get in on the ground because it was too wet and too cold,” Barcellos said. “And with the price of pima, there wasn’t a lot of encouragement.” The calendar also weighed into the decision. For every day past April 20 that pima
For the first time in a century, California cotton acreage will likely drop to fewer than 100,000 acres due in part to soggy ground at planting and better prices for competing crops. A recent ginner survey by the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Association es- timated planted acres at 99,000, plus or minus 10%. The U.S. Department of Agriculture acreage report, released on June 30, put plantings at 83,000 acres. CCGGA President and CEO Roger Isom acknowledged the organization’s survey isn’t perfect, but he said he couldn’t understand the large disparity. “Quite honestly, it doesn’t make sense,” Isom said. “I think everybody knew cotton acres were going to be down because of the (Tulare) lake flooding and the short planting window, especially for pima, which is what we mostly grow out here. Tomato plantings also are up, and corn plantings are up, so I think a lot of the guys who would have planted cotton went with other crops. But I don’t know how that got down to (83,000 acres).” He pointed to California Department of Food and Agriculture pink bollworm program figures, which tend to be more accurate because the state maps and verifies each cotton field for assessment purposes. The program recently released San Joaquin Valley 2023 planted cotton figures of 93,229 acres, with another 5,059 cotton acres in Riverside and Imperial counties.
See COTTON, Page 8
July 26, 2023 Ag Alert 7
Powered by FlippingBook