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Cotton outlook mixed, but Missouri farmer sees potential for average yield

A farmer in the Missouri Bootheel says market conditions remain a major concern for cotton farmers as the growing season begins.

“Everybody’s got a bottle of Rolaids, a bottle of whiskey and a pack of cigarettes. Depending on which one of those you prefer, there’s certainly plenty of incentive to reach for at least one of those on any given afternoon,” Barry Bean says with a chuckle. “But now in all seriousness, in the last week or 10 days, we’ve seen situation make a turnaround.”

However, cotton futures remain under pressure. Bean says there’s still a long way from now until cotton harvest, but “the high cost of inputs and the low return on markets that the sell-off we’ve seen in cotton is a gut kick.”

Bean says one positive is that it could be a decent cotton crop this year.

“If we do everything right and the rain cooperates, then we should be back up to a typical average of 1,250 pounds or so.”

He says the drought conditions in southeast Missouri are only mild concerns currently, and not an immediate problem. 

Bean raises cotton, rice, soybeans, canola and wheat in Pemiscot County, Missouri.