By Clint Thompson
University of Georgia (UGA) Extension cotton agronomist Camp Hand does not believe Georgia acreage will decrease this year. Not when money can still be made at the current market prices.
Speculation about acreage is running rampant amid high fertilizer prices. Since corn and cotton utilize more fertilizer, there are concerns that peanut acreage could increase in 2022. But Hand believes cotton acreage will at least stay the same as last year.
“Corn acres are going to go down, in Camp Hand’s opinion, because of fertilizer costs. You’ve got two options to replace with corn. It’s either cotton or peanuts. Hopefully, folks will stick to their rotations and will plant cotton on ground that we need to plant cotton on to get out of peanut. I know that it’s going to be cheaper to plant peanuts with fertilizer and stuff like that, but realistically, if you look at fertilizer costs in current commodity prices for cotton, we can still make money. Dr. Glen Harris has been preaching that at our county meetings,” Hand said.
Hand said during the Georgia Cotton Commission meeting that price for December cotton was 98 cents per pound.
“We can still make money planting cotton. That’s why I think it’s going to stay stagnant at the least, but it might go up some,” Hand said.
There was 1.17 million certified acres last year in Georgia.