Ag Alert. May 18, 2022

Cotton Continued from Page 3

plan was already in place last October, when he also considered growing can- ning tomatoes and garlic or onions, all of which are contract crops he’s commit- ted to grow. To make it work, he reduced his typical cotton acreage by 15% to 20%, but he will need to use surface water and groundwater to grow it. “I would have more acres if I had more water available,” he said. Kings County farmer Charles Meyer had planned to grow 300 acres of cotton this year, but after his well went down, he was able to get only 30 acres planted. He’s grown up to 2,000 acres in the past, but now most of that ground is planted to almonds, pistachios and alfalfa. He didn’t plant any cotton last year due to lack of water. Besides the higher price, Meyer said, another incentive for growing cotton is he’s part of a cooperative that markets the commodity. He said he plans to use different agronomic approaches and new practices on the cotton he man- aged to plant. “You might say these 30 acres is an experimental crop, because we’re going to try to handle it a little bit different be- cause of the lack of water,” Meyer said. “We’re always trying to learn new ways to improve and make it more efficient.” (Ching Lee is an assistant editor of Ag Alert. She may be contacted at clee@cfbf.com.)

as to how their crops turn out. With upland cotton, focus will be on Texas, the nation’s top cotton produc- er, which has also faced a punishing drought. If the Lone Star State gets rain and produces a “decent-size crop of decent quality,” Isom said, then prices might soften. Though “the main attraction” for grow- ing cotton this year is the price, Merced County farmer Bill Crivelli said another big driver is it uses less water than corn and processing tomatoes, two competing crops that have also seen prices move up. “The tomato price is probably the high- est it’s ever been too, but tomatoes are kind of risky,” he said, noting diseases such as tomato spotted wilt and curly top virus that could wreck fields. Tomatoes and corn also require more fertilizer to make a good crop compared to cotton, he pointed out. In addition, having his own cotton picker makes cotton an easier choice over corn, Crivelli said, because “hardly any growers have corn harvesters,” so they would have to pay for custom harvest. Because cotton is one of the last crops planted, Fresno County grower Mark McKean said it is often the one that gets cut out of the planting schedule when water is limited. He noted his cropping

A field of pima cotton grows in Buttonwillow. Record-high cotton prices inspired California farmers to plant 10% to 25% more acreage than last year, according to early estimates.

Agricultural Market Review

Quotations are the latest available for the week ending May 13, 2022 Year Ago Week Ago Latest Week Livestock Slaughter Steers – 5-Area Average Select & Choice, 1050–1150 lbs., $ per cwt. 118.50-119 139-140 140 Hogs – Average hog, 51-52% lean, Iowa-Minn. market, $ per cwt. 109.61 99.32 97.82 Slaughter Lambs – $ per cwt. 125–175 lbs. National weekly live sales 170-218.12 180-250 187-273 Field crops – basis prompt shipment Barley – U.S. No. 2, $ per cwt. Truck, Stockton-Modesto-Oakdale-Turlock 14.50-15.25 No Quote No Quote Cotton – ¢ per lb., Middling 1 3/32” Fresno spot market 75.41 101.83 94.49 Corn – U.S. No. 2 yellow $ per cwt. trucked 8.60 9.95 9.89 Alfalfa Hay – $ per ton, quality*, FOB Region 1, Northern Inter-mountain 220 (F/G) No Quote No Quote Region 2, Sacramento Valley 260 (P/S) No Quote No Quote Region 3, Northern San Joaquin Valley 270-310 (S) 390-400 (P/S) No Quote Region 4, Central San Joaquin Valley No Quote 325 (G) No Quote Region 5, Southern California 259 (P) 375 (S) No Quote Region 6, Southeast Interior 217-221 (P/S) 365-390 (P/S) 365-380 (P/S) Oat Hay – $ per ton, quality*, FOB Northern California, dairy No Quote No Quote No Quote Oats – U.S. No. 2 white, $ per cwt. Statewide, trucked price 200 (G) No Quote No Quote

Dry Beans – Grower FOB prices Baby Limas, $ per cwt, (sacked) Large Limas, $ per cwt. (sacked) Blackeye, $ per cwt. (sacked)

No Quote No Quote No Quote

Rice – Milled No. 1 Head, FOB No. Calif. mills Medium grain, $ per cwt. Wheat – U.S. No. 2 or better, winter, $ per cwt. 13% protein, Los Angeles, trucked price

39-43

54-56

12.75 (No. 1) No Quote Provided by the California Farm Bureau as a service to Farm Bureau members. Information supplied by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Market News Branch. * ADF=Acid detergent fiber; (S) = Supreme/<27%ADF; (P) = Premium/27-29; (G) = Good/29-32; (F) = Fair/32-35. No Quote

nurturing growth

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May 18, 2022 Ag Alert 17