USDA Inches Up Cotton Estimate

WASHINGTON - Dec 11/07 - SNS -- Production of all classes of ctoon in the United States is forecast at 19.0 million 480-pound bales, up 1% from last month but down 12% from last year's 21.6 million bales, according to the USDA latest crop production estimates.

Yield is expected to average 864 pounds per harvested acre, up 5 pounds from last month and up 50 pounds from 2006. If realized, the yield will be the largest on record surpassing the previous record of 855 pounds per acre set in 2004.

Harvested area of all cotton is expected to total 10.5 million acres, unchanged from last month but down 17% from last year. Upland cotton production is forecast at 18.2 million 480-pound bales, up 1% from last month but down 13% from last year. A record high yield of 850 pounds per acre is forecast for upland cotton. Record yields are expected in Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. American-Pima production is forecast at a record high 831,500 bales, up 2% from last month and up 9% from last year. American-Pima harvested area is expected to total 289,000 acres, unchanged from last month but down 11% from 2006.

In the Southeastern region, the continual drought conditions allowed producers in Alabama, North Carolina, and Virginia to make rapid harvest progress, well ahead of normal and last year. In Georgia, harvest was behind normal due to the later developing crop. Objective yield measurements in Georgia show boll counts to be the third largest in the last 5 years.

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