New cotton program shakes up Southern agriculture

New cotton program shakes up Southern agriculture Agri-Pulse By Philip Brasher Cotton growers say their new farm program payments will provide badly needed income support without the threat of foreign retaliation that forced them to give up their old policy. But the new cotton program, which was included in the newly enacted congressional budget agreement, will result in smaller payments to peanut growers, forcing them to decide quickly whether to cut back planting of that crop this spring. The budget deal included a provision sought by the National Cotton Council and shaped by the House Agriculture Committee staff that makes seed cotton eligible for the Price Loss Coverage at a reference price of 36.7 cents per pound. Seed cotton is unginned cotton that includes the seed, which is used for animal feed and cooking oil, as well as the fiber. The price of seed cotton is expected to average about 31 cents this year, well below the PLC payment trigger, and remain at about 33 cents in the following years, according to the University of Missouri's Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute. More: https://www.agri-pulse.com/articles/10603-new-cotton-program-shakes-up-southern-agriculture