May 26, 2008

Cotton calamity not confined to Cherokee County

BY ROY MITCHELL

Their arrival is as predictable as Thanksgiving on a Thursday. Every fall, puffy, white blooms of cotton embellish Cherokee County's cultivated terrain.

So much for predictability. This year, the county's landscape may be in for a visible change. Initial indications from the Farm Service Agency reveal that Cherokee County farmers intend to plant around 4,000 fewer acres of cotton this year, a drop of over 30 percent from last year's totals.

Many Cherokee County farmers are choosing to plant corn, wheat, or soybeans instead. Why, then, has King Cotton's crown lost its luster for county farmers? Two factors point to a simple answer: economics.

Factor No. 1 in cotton's disappearance from some fields is the crop's input cost. Cotton requires more fertilizer expense, an estimated $50-$60 more per acre than soybeans. Cotton seeds also cost more than soybean seeds. An acre's worth of cotton seeds puts a farmer back around $80, while an acre of soybean seeds runs less than $40.

With such a high input cost, it's a wonder cotton has been the primary Cherokee County crop for so long. But Nick McMichen, who farms near Howell's Crossroads, said cotton growing is a difficult tradition to break.

“Cotton has been our mainstay through here for a very long time,” he said. “The consistent crop had been what kept farmers in business. Year in and year out, cotton was the moneymaker.”

A second factor in the slowdown of this seedy, white staple is the remarkable increase in the price of other commodities. The selling price of cotton has risen, but the dramatic increase in the returns for other county crops has lured many farmers away. At the present rate, a soybean grower could sell their harvest at over $12 per bushel, a $4 increase from this time last year.

Corn prices have risen, too, to an impressive $6 per bushel. Cotton returns are also higher, running about 78 cents per lb., but McMichen points out that “compared to the other crops, cotton hasn't gone up as much. It needs to be 90 cents (per lb.) or more to even compete with $12 soybeans and $6 corn.”

Though it was not a major influence on the world commodities markets, the 2007 drought in the Southeast may have played a role in influencing local crop choices. With farmers suffering through paltry returns following last year's nearly rainless summer, some may have turned away from the more expensive crop as a result.
Richard Lindsey, a farmer near the Alexis community, believes that because of the drought, many growers are searching for something less risky and less expensive to grow.

Will this significant cotton reduction have any effect upon Cherokee County?

 Lindsey, whose family owns one of the two active cotton gins in the county, isn't too worried about the cotton decrease.

“Gins will certainly feel the pinch,” Lindsey said. But he added that it would take several years of cotton reductions to shut them down. He said he expects cotton to be a better economic choice in future years.

Nevertheless, Cherokee County may endure some effects of the cotton reduction. Growers with significant investments in cotton equipment have little choice but to roll the dice with cotton, although right now it is a less profitable crop.

Lindsey said a cotton loss might also create somewhat of a trickle-down effect in the county. He surmises that farm suppliers may feel a slight pinch since soybeans farmers will spend less on chemicals and seeds than they would have with cotton. Also, since less farm labor is needed for growing soybeans than cotton, farm hands may not be in so in demand.

And the cotton planting decrease is not limited to the Cherokee County vicinity. According to cotton.org, a survey in mid-winter asked farmers to indicate their intended plantings and acreage for 2008. Respondents in Alabama indicated an 11 percent reduction in cotton acreage. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has predicted an even greater reduction of Alabama cotton. They estimate Alabamians would plant 300,000 acres of cotton in 2008, down from 400,000 acres last year.

Like opposite ends of a see-saw, as cotton production lowers soybean production rises. Soybeans help make cooking oil and livestock feed, and according to a crop acreage report from the USDA, 2.05 million acres will be planted this year, up 41 percent from 2007.

Some of those soybean acres will belong to McMichen, who has both cotton and soybean cultivating capabilities.

“It's not healthy to have all your eggs in one basket,” McMichen said.

Consequently, this year 50 percent of his farmland will contain wheat and soybeans, 25 percent will be planted in corn; only the remaining 25 percent will hold cotton this year. Two years ago, his fields were around 80 percent cotton.

Nevertheless, McMichen is optimistic about cotton's future.

 "I still believe long term, that cotton will come back,” he said. “I'm hoping cotton comes back.”