High Prices Have U.S. Farmers Planting More Cotton

More American farmers are expected to plant cotton this year as prices remain high thanks to demand from the growing middle class in China and India and a short supply worldwide. Some of the biggest growth is expected in California, where planting had slipped to a low of 200,000 acres two years ago from 1.6 million acres in 1979. This year, California farmers are expected to plant 400,000 acres, said Mark Bagby, spokesman for Calcot, a marketing cooperative that represents 1,400 growers in California, Texas and New Mexico. Nearly all of that will be Pima cotton, the high-quality, extra-long fiber used in luxury sheets and towels. The commodity futures for cotton rose to historic highs in August, hitting $1.50 per pound, triple the price in 2008. Long-term cotton futures now hover around $1, but Pima prices are closer to $1.30...more