Economics
Cotton Rally Encouraging Farmers to Sow More Than USDA Forecast
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The longest cotton rally in four years and a lingering drought in the southern Great Plains are forcing farmers in the U.S., the world’s biggest exporter, to reconsider a shift to other crops.
Planting may total 11 million acres, 10 percent more than a Feb. 22 government forecast of 10 million, said Jordan Lea, the chairman of Eastern Trading Co., an exporter in Greenville, South Carolina. Prices are up 37 percent from a 31-month low in June and heading for a fifth monthly gain, the longest since July 2009. Corn fell 3.4 percent since the end of October.