Interviews
NCC appreciates effort to help distressed farmers
04 Dec '09
4 min read
David Cochran, an Avon, Miss., cotton producer, said the 30-plus inches of rain he received in September and October “cost us anywhere from 50-60 percent of our anticipated yield. We felt like we had one of the better cotton crops that we've had in recent years, but a lot of the cotton either hardlocked and fell out or just rotted.”
He said this year has been unusually devastating and the immediate disaster assistance such as that introduced in the Senate and House would help him meet his financial obligations.
Cochran said his ginning operation also was hurt because of the lost seed. “We gin for the seed, and where we normally get 700-800 pounds of seed per bale, we're only seeing 550-600 pounds,” he noted.
Dow Brantley, an England, Ark., cotton producer still suffering from the 2008 hurricane's effect, planted 850 acres of cotton this year only to see the rains drench his late crop and rob him of 300-400 pounds of cotton per acre as well as an average of two cents per pound on quality discounts.
“If we're fortunate enough to get some type of assistance, it will help but we're still going to have a loss – no way around it,” Brantley said. “If we don't get assistance, we'll spend the next couple of years just trying to get out from under this loss. I can weather one but not two years in a row. You just can't lose this much cotton with the costs of the inputs it requires to make a crop.”
He said this year has been unusually devastating and the immediate disaster assistance such as that introduced in the Senate and House would help him meet his financial obligations.
Cochran said his ginning operation also was hurt because of the lost seed. “We gin for the seed, and where we normally get 700-800 pounds of seed per bale, we're only seeing 550-600 pounds,” he noted.
Dow Brantley, an England, Ark., cotton producer still suffering from the 2008 hurricane's effect, planted 850 acres of cotton this year only to see the rains drench his late crop and rob him of 300-400 pounds of cotton per acre as well as an average of two cents per pound on quality discounts.
“If we're fortunate enough to get some type of assistance, it will help but we're still going to have a loss – no way around it,” Brantley said. “If we don't get assistance, we'll spend the next couple of years just trying to get out from under this loss. I can weather one but not two years in a row. You just can't lose this much cotton with the costs of the inputs it requires to make a crop.”
National Cotton Council of America
Popular News
Leave your Comments
Editor’s Pick
Ata Turgutalp
Eliar Elektronik San. A.S.
C Devarajan & P Raajashekar
Texvalley
Aleksandre Akhalkatsishvili
Label - Aleksandre Akhalkatsishvili
Esteemed Clients
-Ltd..jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Thermore (Far East) Ltd.")
.jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Limited (TSllC Ltd)")
.jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Taiwan Textile Federation (TTF)")
