Since 2005, US cotton output is expected to swing back to the highest production level. According to the U.S. World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report, the 2019-2020 crop production will increase from previous season’s 18.4 million to 21.8 million bales. A single bale weighs 218 kilograms (480 pounds).
A year earlier, the USDA March forecast said that for 2019-2020 season, the cotton acres from 14.1 million would drop to 13.8 million. According to Mr John Robinson, a professor of agricultural economics at Texas A&M University, anecdotal evidence in states including Texas and Oklahoma suggests the fiber will be sown on 14 million acres nationally.
Relatively low prices for competing crops and rainy weather causing planting delays for corn may make the fiber an attractive alternative, said Robinson, who estimates U.S. cotton production will reach 23 million bales.
