Stoddard County cotton down, similar to national trend

"A lot of it has to do with planting conditions," Guethle, who is with the University of Missouri Extension office in Bloomfield, said.

The ideal planting time, he said, is during the last week of April or the first few weeks of May and here in Stoddard County a lot of rain fell during and before that period.

That rain delayed not only the planting of cotton but the planting of corn, rice and soybeans as well.

"[The farmers] simply couldn't get their crops down in time," Guethle said Thursday.

Weather isn't the only factor that played into this year's expected decrease however.

"Compared to other crops, the price of cotton is down," he said. "Around here, crops compete for acreage. The cost per acre, combined with the price paid for the crop, is all taken into account."

Despite plenty of difficulties faced by area farmers this year, Guethle says things are beginning to look up.

U.S. farmers planted their fewest cotton acres since 1983 - just over 9 million - amid a continued swapping of acres for better priced and less-costly-to-produce crops such as corn and soybeans.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture also reported Tuesday that acreage planted in cotton in Mississippi and Louisiana was the lowest on record at 270,000 and 240,000 acres, respectively.

Nationally, acreage was down from nearly 9.5 million acres in 2008.

Some of the loss in acres this year likely went into corn. USDA estimates 700,000 acres planted in Louisiana, up from 520,000 last year. But the recent hot, dry spell has taken a toll on that crop; the percentage of corn rated in poor or very poor condition nearly doubled in one week, reaching 19 percent as of Sunday. How much of the crop gets harvested remains to be seen.

Here in Stoddard County, 56,195 acres of cotton were planted last year and County Executive Director of the Farm Service Agency Steve Morrison said he expects this year's numbers to be near that at this point, but there will be no definite answer for quite some time.

He said the final certification date for crops was moved this year to Aug. 14 to give farmers more time to report spring seeded crops.

"It's about average for what we would expect this year," Morrison said. "Last year's was a pretty good number for us."

The full toll of the abnormally dry and drought conditions also isn't clear yet in Texas, which accounts for more than half the country's total cotton acres. Acreage in the state was down slightly this year, to about 4.9 million.

USDA is forecasting increased cotton acreage in several states, including Arizona, Tennessee and Georgia.

David Ruppenicker, executive vice president of the Southern Cotton Growers, said cotton and peanuts are often grown in rotation in Georgia. Peanut acreage in that state is down 33 percent this year, which he attributed to the salmonella scare of several months ago and a carryover supply from last year.

Global financial woes have made consumers more cautious in their spending. But Gary Adams, chief economist for the National Cotton Council, said a "fairly substantial drawdown" of bales on hand domestically over the marketing year could be a sign that the outlook for cotton is improving.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.