Agricultural News
Up to 90% of the Oklahoma Cotton Crop Acreage Being Abandoned in 2011
Wed, 31 Aug 2011 14:52:48 CDT
Cotton Producer Matt Muller believes that the 2011 Oklahoma Cotton Crop may be a very small fraction of the size of the last couple of growing seasons. In 2010, Oklahoma Cotton production was 415,000 bales, up 30 percent from the prior year. The yield averaged 738 pounds per acre from 270,000 harvested acres. Muller believes that in southwestern Oklahoma, perhaps ten percent of the acres that were harvested in 2010 will actually be harvested in 2011.
Muller says that water from Lake Altus Lugert was shut off by mid July, and most of the irrigated cotton that had received a couple of waterings prior to that declined quickly under the brutal July and August conditions that have resulted in a record number of days above one hundred degrees across a lot of southwestern Oklahoma. Muller calls the abandonment rate is "unbelievable." On his farm, he had planted 1,000 acres and he belives that he may be able to harvest 100 acres this fall. Many of his neighbors have already "zero'd out" their cotton for crop insurance purposes.
Muller is a member of the Oklahoma Farm Bureau Farm Bill Committee established by the organization last fall at their annual meeting. Muller says that the Committee continues their work, with an eye on protecting Crop Insurance as priority number one. He also mentioned the idea of a revenue based safety net, which he believes can be shaped several ways.
Muller also reacted to the decision by the National Cotton Council to back away from strong support for a direct farm support payment as a part of the mix for the 2012 farm bill. Click here to see our earlier story on the NCC farm policy statement issued last week.
Click on the Listen Bar below to hear Farm Director Ron Hays chat with Matt Muller of Jackson County at the conclusion of the Oklahoma Farm Bureau Drought Summit held on Tuesday of this week.
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