U.S. Cotton Area Drops 17%

WASHINGTON - Jun 28/13 - SNS -- Area planted to cotton in 2013 is estimated at 10.3 million acres, down 17% from last year, according to the USDA seeded area estimates for 2013.

Upland area is estimated at 10.0 million acres, down 17% from 2012. American Pima area is estimated at 226,000 acres, down 5% from 2012. Planted area estimates in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, and Oklahoma are all record lows.

Cotton planting in Arizona and California progressed quickly this spring while most other cotton growing regions lagged behind normal. However, favorable weather throughout late-May allowed quicker progress and by June 2, eighty-two% of the crop had been planted, just 1 percentage point behind the 5-year average. By June 23, twenty-three% of the crop was squaring, 11 percentage points behind last year and 6 percentage points behind the 5-year average. As of June 23, forty-three% of the crop was rated in good to excellent condition, compared with 50% rated in these two categories at the same time last year.

Producers planted 90% of their acreage with seed varieties developed using biotechnology, down 4 percentage points from last year. Varieties containing bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) were planted on 8% of the acreage, down 6 percentage points from last year. Herbicide resistant varieties were planted on 15% of the acreage, down 2 percentage points from 2012. Stacked gene varieties, those containing both insect and herbicide resistance, were planted on 67% of the acreage, up 4 percentage points from a year ago.