Weather Wipes Out Half Of West Texas’ Cotton Acres

Drought, hail and blowing sand have robbed the world’s largest contiguous cotton-growing patch of 50 percent of its acreage this year. Preliminary numbers released this week by the U.S. Department of Agriculture show that cotton producers in West Texas’ South Plains are forecast to harvest 1.86 million acres, down from the 3.7 million they planted in the spring. Producers in the region who lost acres this year continue to deal with a multi-year drought. Hail and blowing sand also forced producers to file insurance claims.