Australia: Cotton Makes A Comeback

Matt Hopkins Posted by Matt Hopkins|6 May 2008

Cotton production is expected to rise sharply in 2008/09 following years of drought conditions, owing largely to a major rebound in planted area. Despite the improvement, the US Dept. of Agriculture’s Foreign Agriculture Service (USDA-FAS) expects production to still hover below the country’s 10-year average.

Excellent rainfall in key regions has greatly improved the outlook for irrigation water supplies in the lead-up to the 2008/09 cotton season. This follows on a 2007/08 crop that could be the smallest in roughly 25 years.

The area planted to cotton is forecast to shoot to 190,000 hectares (Ha) leading to production of 1.5 million bales, or three times the projection for 2007/08. Some forecasts are even more optimistic, reaching 2 million bales – however, this would require above average rainfall to achieve.