Declining grain prices will likely cause farmers to plant more cotton than in recent years.
Many Coahoma County farmers are switching from planting corn and soybeans to cotton because they are able to make more money from cotton. Locally, farmers are prepared for any changes because they are already planting corn, soybeans and cotton.
One of those farmers is Pete Hunter. He has been farming in Stovall for 46 years.
“Actually, cotton is the only blue sky out there for a profit,” he said. “Corn prices and soybean prices are such that you cannot make any profit on that. The only option we have is to grow cotton and make a good crop.
“It’s going to take a good crop, better than two-and-a-half bales or better to the acre to make any money on cotton. But there is really not much money to be made at all, if any, on soybeans or corn.”
Hunter discussed some of the benefits of planting different crops.
“All of us will plant a few soybeans because not all the land we have is suitable for cotton,” he said. “A lot of farmers plant some corn because it’s beneficial for the rotation of corn and cotton. The corn will basically be planted not so much for a profit, but for a crop rotational benefit.
“Soybeans will probably be planted because the land that we plant soybeans on is not suitable for cotton, in our case. That’s not in everybody’s case, but that is in our case.”
Bowen Flowers has been a farmer in Coahoma County for 40 years and expressed similar sentiments.
“The price of beans and corn have gone down so much and cotton looks like it might be a better alternative,” Flowers said.
Flowers estimated beans are $8 to $9 by the bushel and that is down from $10 to $12. He estimated corn is $3.70 to $3.80 by the bushel and that is down from $4.50.
Cotton, he said, was 73 to 74 cents per pound.
Flowers said farming different crops is beneficial at times such as these.
“You just have to be diversified,” he said. “We’re so diversified in the Delta. We can go to whatever crop looks better and change our acres up.”
Flowers said being diversified is one of the reasons farmers have been successful in Coahoma County.
Tripp Hayes from Coahoma County started planting corn in the late 1990s. He has been planting corn and soybeans all along.
“We have never left cotton,” he said. “We have started growing more cotton, more along the lines of what we did prior to diversifying into corn and more soybeans, but it’s all economically driven. The price of grains is low compared to the price of cotton. That, in a nutshell, is why people are switching back into cotton.”
Hayes said one reason he is diversified in his farming is certain land is better suited for cotton, while other land is better suited for corn and soybeans.
“I’m trying to not have all the eggs in one basket and be diverse, but you’ve got land that’s suited to one crop and not the other, and that plays into your crop choice as well,” Hayes said.
John McKee has been planting corn, soybeans, cotton and wheat in Friars Point since 1986. He said Coahoma County is fortunate to have infrastructure intact, specifically gins and cotton pickers.
“They abandoned cotton in the south Delta,” he said. “Once you abandon a cotton gin, it’s almost impossible to open back up because a new cotton gin is very, very expensive. For some reason, our farmers just decided to stay in some measure, in some degree, in cotton.”
While McKee is glad he is diversified in his farming operation, he acknowledged it could be costly.
“Diversity is a good thing, but if you’re going to own a combine and a cotton picker and other equipment, it’s capital intensive,” he said. “That’s the downside of being diversified.”
