John Hart, Associate Editor, Southeast Farm Press 

Of all the crops grown across the Southeast, cotton is the most romantic. Cotton has always been a temperamental and challenging crop, but the “white gold” is entwined in the very fabric of the South because it built communities and brought wealth to those who produced it. 

Cotton has always been a difficult crop to grow, but for many cotton farmers, that difficulty is the greatest reward. Of all the crops a farmer grows, cotton responds the best to active management. Sure, it’s a tough crop to grow, but in the end, it delivers dividends. 

Cotton farmers have faced tough times in the past. But the worry is that today’s challenges are different. Something is amiss in the land of cotton. For the third straight year, prices are below production cost, and farmers are abandoning cotton acres for corn, soybeans and peanuts. 

The worry is that demand shows no signs of improving. Polyester remains a fearsome foe, and cash-strapped consumers are simply not buying as much blue jeans, towels, and clothing made from cotton. Consumers need more cash in their pockets and the desire to buy a new pair of blue jeans rather than a pair of polyester yoga pants. They need to purchase more cotton products.  

At a session with farmers Aug. 12 at the Northampton County Extension Center in Jackson, N.C., First District North Carolina Congressman Don Davis, a Democrat and member of the House Agriculture Committee, listened to the challenges farmers face. Joe Martin, of Conway, N.C., told the congressman that commodity prices are lower than they were 20 to 30 years ago, but production costs are much higher. Martin said the talk is that times today aren’t as tough as the farm recession of the 1980s, but he stressed that actually, things are worse. 

Martin said in the 1980s, a tractor cost just $28,000. Today, a tractor costs more than $400,000, and interest rates to finance that tractor are 8 to 10%. “It’s hard to get ahead when you’re having to refinance what you have at that high a price.” 

Cotton farmers have come together in the past to overcome insurmountable challenges. The tremendous success of the boll weevil eradication program and the establishment of Cotton Incorporated in 1970 to overcome competition from synthetic fibers are two shining examples. 

Markets always go through cycles. Hopefully, the up cycle will come, and cotton prices will return to profitable levels. But that will only come from increased demand. 

Hopefully, cotton farmers will find a way to come together to preserve the crop they love to grow. They have done this before and must do it again. I am confident they will succeed. It would be a travesty if the Southeast were no longer the land of cotton.