DATE:     2/6/04
CONTACT:  Dr. Mike Jones, (843) 662-3526, ext. 255; majones@clemson.edu
WRITER:   Tom Lollis, (803) 284-3343, ext. 241; tlollis@clemson.edu

S.C. cotton growers should see
another good year for prices

     BLACKVILLE - South Carolina cotton producers can look forward to
low or no loan deficiency payments in 2004 because of good prices,
according to Mark Lange, president of the National Cotton Council
(NCC).
     He spoke Thursday to a crowd of more than 125 at the South
Carolina Cotton Growers Annual Meeting at Clemson University's Edisto
Research and Education Center near Blackville.
     What happens in the world market will have a major impact on farm
profits.
     "We imported the equivalent of 19.5 million bales of cotton, and
we harvested 18.4 million bales in 2003," said Lange. "It's the first
time in history that we imported more cotton than we grew."
     He said that the NCC is pressing the Bush administration for some
trade protections from China, which has become the leading exporter of
textile and apparel products to the United States since joining the
World Trade Organization. The rise in textile imports, more than 600
percent in some categories, has cost U.S. textile workers hundreds of
thousands of jobs.
     Both U.S. textile mills and U.S. cotton producers are now
exporting most of their product. Ironically, he said that China may
offer a bright spot for U.S. exports this year.
     "They've had a bad crop, equivalent to our crop in 1998," said
Lange. "Their stocks are low, and they use 2.5 million bales a month.
They will have to import a lot of cotton this year."
     NCC estimates call for plantings of 14.7 million acres of cotton
in 2004, a rise of 9.5 percent over 2003. South Carolina growers are
expected to plant 234,000 acres, an increase of about 6 percent over
last year.
     Mike Jones, Clemson Extension cotton agronomist, would like to see
a repeat of last year's growing conditions. Though planted acreage was
down by 70,000 acres from 2002, the harvest was up by 18,000 acres over
2002, when a third of the acreage was plowed under because of poor
conditions.
     "We produced 330,000 acres in 2003. South Carolina was the only
state in the Southeast to increase harvested acreage last year," said
Jones. The state average yield was 727 lbs. per acre. The state record
is 846 lbs. an acre, recorded in 1994.
     Jones said that growers are giving more thought to variety
selection that they used to. About 78 percent of the state's acres are
planted varieties containing Monsanto's Bollgard gene, which allows the
cotton plant to produce a toxin that attacks lepidopterous insect pests
such as cotton bollworm and budworm. About 98 percent of the state's
acreage is in RoundupReady (RR) varieties.
     He encouraged growers to study yield data before choosing
varieties to plant, then temper the data with local experience and
spread their risk out with a range of varieties, maturity and planting
dates.
     He said that about 34 percent of the acreage in the state was
planted last year in the DPL-555 variety with the Bollgard gene.
     "Don't over-buy the RR technology," said Jones. "RR may be a poor
choice in high yield environments, because a lot of RR varieties are
only average yielders."
     New weed control technology is now available to growers in the
form of Liberty-Link varieties which are resistant to over-the-top
sprays of the Ignite herbicide from Bayer Cropservice. Ignite is active
against morningglory, sicklepod, cocklebur, Florida beggarweed,
smartweed and ragweed. It is weak, however, on large grasses,
especially goosegrass, and Palmer amaranth.
     John Wilcut, weed scientist from North Carolina State University,
cautioned growers to strictly follow the label for timing sprays of
Roundup on RR varieties, since spraying after the 4-leaf stage can cut
yields. He said that directed sprays at the base of the plant need to
be kept off plant stems, which can wick up the Roundup.
     Mike Sullivan, Clemson University cotton entomologist, said that
the dramatic increase in Bt cotton varieties in the past five years has
resulted in a change in the primary pest complex from the
bollworm/budworm complex to piercing/sucking bugs such as stinkbug.
     "We're going to have to spray two or three times to control
stinkbugs," he said.
     S.C. Agriculture Commissioner Charles Sharpe urged producers to
contact legislators to protest proposed budget cuts for his department
on Clemson University's Public Service and Agriculture (PSA) programs.
     "We need to keep the hands-on programs that help us as farmers,"
he said. "It takes a lot of research to keep up with everything. That's
why we need Clemson."
                              END