The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) issued its August crop reports on Thursday, and Becky Sommer of NASS in Washington D.C. said the U.S. cotton output estimate is up 18% over last year’s harvest.
Overall cotton output is expected to be 17.3 million 480-pound bales, up 18% from 2020. The overall cotton planted area was 11.7 million acres, which was unchanged from the prior estimate but down 3% from last year. The total cotton acreage harvested is expected to be 10.4 million acres, a 25% increase over 2020.
Cotton production in Georgia is forecast at 2.30 million bales, up 6 percent from last year. In Alabama, production is forecast to total 780,000 bales, up 6 from 2020. Florida production is expected to total 140,000bales, 36 percent above last year’s figure. All cotton production for 2020 is forecast as 17.3 million 480-pound bales are forecast.
