By Jim Steadman

The USDA Acreage report for 2020, issued June 30, shows U.S. cotton planted acreage of 12.2 million acres – down 11% from 2019 reported acres.

The total includes 12.0 million upland cotton acres (down 11% from 2019) and 195,000 Pima acres (down 15%).

In its Prospective Planting report released on March 31, USDA projected a total of 13.7 million cotton acres for 2020, down less than 1% from 2019.

Sixteen of the 17 cotton producing states included in the report showed acreage decreases for the year. Only Kansas reported an increase – from 175,000 acres in 2019 to 195,000 acres in 2020.

From a regional perspective:

• Southeast (AL, FL, GA, NC, SC, VA): 2,450,000 acres reported for 2020 – 515,000 acres fewer than 2019.
• Mid-South (AR, LA, MS, MO, TN): a total of 1,880,000 acres – a drop of 520,000 from 2019.
• Southwest (KS, OK, TX): 7,450,000 reported acres for 2020 – down 427,000 acres from 2019.
• West (AZ, CA, NM): 405,000 reported acres – down 88,700 acres from 2019.

Individual state numbers for cotton and other crops can be found in the report.

The report also showed that 96% of all cotton planted in the U.S. this year included biotech traits for insect and/or herbicide resistance – a 2% decrease from 2019 plantings.

Among other major crops, the report showed an overall 3% increase in corn acres, a 10% increase in soybean acres and a 2% drop in wheat acres for the year. Slight acreage increases were also reported for sorghum, rice and peanuts.