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Texas cotton fields severely impacted by Harvey

A Texas ag economist says cotton fields in southeast Texas have been severely impacted by Hurricane Harvey.

Dr. John Robinson with Texas A&M says cotton harvest was only 40 percent complete when Harvey came ashore. He says an estimated 300,000 to 400,000 bales worth of cotton were unharvested when the storm hit, obliterating stalks and lint and leaving many growers with a 100 percent loss.

Robinson calls it “a disaster at the farm level”.

At this week’s Farm Progress Show, U.S. House Ag Committee Chairman Mike Conaway, who is from Texas, said it’s another example of why a strong farm bill safety net is important.

“(It’s) a classic example of why you want a year-to-year, year in and year out safety net that protects production—as opposed to some ad hoc kind of thing that you throw in periodically when it fits the deal,” Conaway said.