CLEMSON – Coming off a record year for cotton, South Carolina cotton farmers can expect an even greater year in 2018.
Nathan Smith, Clemson Extension economist and professor at the Clemson Sandhill Research and Education Center, said estimates for South Carolina cotton planted stand at 260,000 acres.
“This is 10,000 more acres than in 2017,” Smith said. “An increase of 900,000 acres is reported for the entire United States. A total of 12.6 million acres for the United States was reported in 2017 and 13.5 million acres have been reported for 2018.Pee
Smith said he believes the actual number of cotton acres planted in South Carolina will be more than 260,000 acres.
“I believe acreage is closer to the March intentions of 285,000 acres,” Smith said. “We had a lot of rain during planting and it’s possible that grower surveys reflected fewer acres planted than expected by the first week of June for South Carolina.”
The South Carolina cotton acreage keeps increasing. Mike Jones, Clemson cotton specialist housed at the Pee Dee Research and Education Center, said a total of 250,000 acres of cotton were planted in South Carolina in 2017, up from 190,000 acres of cotton planted in South Carolina in 2016. Better prices for cotton is the main reason cotton acreage in South Carolina is increasing.