Texas in the United States has been hit by severe drought this year which hurts its agriculture. The state produces 40 percent of the cotton produced in the country. Its cotton farmers are in trouble as the crop is ruined.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has revealed that lack of rain accompanied by high temperatures has ruined the cotton crop. The cotton farmers have been forced to abandon almost 70 percent of the cotton crop they planted this year.
Kody Bessent, CEO of Plains Cotton Growers (PCG) says that 2022 was the hardest year for the growers in Texas history at least in the past 72 years going back to 1950. The PCG represents farmers in the 42 counties of the High Plains region in north Texas.
The United States is currently the world’s largest exporter of cotton. Its domestic consumption is low and it exports most of the cotton it produces. The USDA has forecast a decline of 21 percent in US cotton production to 14 million bales this year. The Texas farmers are helpless as neither the government nor they have any control over Mother Nature.
