TIGER TV ONLINE REPORTER
Cotton quality has dropped and yields have decreased by an estimated 30 percent and growing for Louisiana because of too much rain, according to LSU AgCenter cotton specialist, Dr. Don Boquet.
“The unfortunate and discouraging aspect of this for the farmers is that they made a crop, incurred all the costly inputs and now cannot harvest the crop to pay the bills and maybe make a profit,” Boquet said.
The losses can not be recovered unless a disaster is officially declared and farmers get assistance where they would likely receive low-interest loans.
Cotton crop losses could seriously affect farmers and the state’s farming industry.
“This is a serious problem for the cotton farmers, and some will probably go out of business because of the losses,” Boquet said. “It is also a major loss to the rural economy of the state that heavily depends on the farmers for the dollars that turn over in the economy.”
The losses have occurred because many bolls do not open properly when wet and rot, and others that have opened are falling apart and dropping fibers to the ground, according to Boquet.
The latter type of loss typically occurs when the leading part of the picker contacts the plant and the cotton fiber falls to the ground before the picker can grasp it.
Boquet said after lots of rain, the fibers are no longer white, but are discolored from tannins that leach from the seed and from fungi and bacteria. Buyers then discount the discolored cotton. The wet conditions also weaken the fibers making them break when picked and ginned, also making it worth less. The cotton seed, used for livestock feed and oil has also lost value.
In addition to these problems, rain occurring for 25 of the last 35 days has delayed harvesting.
The cotton cannot be picked under these conditions because moisture in the seeds would cause rot if harvested and put into storage. After rain stops cotton has to dry for three days before being picked.
“We have had only one period since early September when the rain stopped for more than three days and that allowed some picking to be done for about four days,” Boquet said.
Additionally wet fibers would clog the cotton pickers and the wet ground can not support their weight.
However, these crop losses will have little affect on cotton prices. The cost of the cotton fiber in cotton clothing to the consumer is usually less than 10 percent.
“This may be difficult to believe but is true for cotton and for all food items also,” Boquet said. “The farmer gets a very small percentage of what a consumer spends on food and fiber.”
Yield losses for Louisiana and the entire mid-south, which is experiencing the same weather, will represent less than one-fourth of one percent of the world cotton crop.
“Since cotton is a global commodity, prices of cotton will not be greatly affected as a result of the losses experienced this year from this particular weather in Louisiana,” Boquet said.
But the local outlook still is not good.
“It is not possible to be optimistic about this year’s cotton crop after the extended rainfall events of the past month,” Boquet said.
Cotton acreage in Louisiana has dropped from one million in the mid 1990’s to 230,000 acres today, and the weather may affect the ability of cotton farmers to plant next year.
“A concern is that loss of more acreage will make it difficult to maintain a cotton industry in Louisiana,” Boquet said.
