Agriculture economists looking ahead at the next decade predict good news for the South Plains' cotton producers, the local economy and your closets.
Darren Hudson, director of Texas Tech's Cotton Economics Research Institute, predicted a rise in cotton prices and production for both the U.S. and world cotton markets.
"From the low 50s to the mid-80s in six months is pretty good recovery," he said. "We're forecasting at the end of the 10-year average around 82-83 cents. So, you know, it's a pretty steady increase over time."
As of Tuesday, the National Cotton Council reported the latest world market cotton price was 79.73 cents per pound. In the NCC's monthly reports, the average January price was 77.39 cents; it was 57.60 cents the same time last year.
The high current prices are the result of a decrease in U.S. cotton supply and a rise in demand as countries emerge from the recession, he said.
In the USDA's 2008 Texas upland cotton production statistics, Texas contributed to more than a third of the nation's 2008 overall production. The High Plains district - more than 30 counties in the Panhandle and West Texas - produced about 66 percent of the state's cotton, which is turned into clothes, diapers and fabrics.
This month, Hudson and four members of his research institute published their analysis, "Global Cotton Baseline: 2009/10-2019/20." Projections are based.
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