Cotton producers are witness to the best of times and the worst

By MONETTE TAYLOR | South Central Texas

Dark, rotting seeds are abundant in cotton gins around the area. They are useless. -Staff photo by Taylor

September 27, 2001 -- Although some cotton producers in South Central Texas witnessed the best crop in years, and were able to pick and gin their crops, many others are suffering terrible losses due to the recent, heavy rains.

Those producers who were able to get their crops in the ground on time in the spring were the fortunate ones. The others had to wait to plant, due to wet ground, and now...after watching their cotton progress and become a banner crop...see it rotting in the fields.

"The problem was...with so much rain...I've heard anywhere from 10-20 inches, the seed was essentially ruined, because it was sprouted," said Brian Hlavinka, farm manager for row crops for Hlavinka Cattle Company in East Bernard.

"We'd just started picking. We started on a Friday and picked Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday," said Hlavinka.

It started raining on Tuesday morning and rained straight for over seven days.

"The cotton stayed wet enough where the seed sprouted. It had enough moisture to keep it hydrated and it sprouted...hanging in the burr," he added.

"So many farmers were about to pay off their debts. Since '96, they haven't really had a good year since then, and they were going to get out of all this with the good crops, this year. And here we are..."

Last year, farmers were lucky to make a bale an acre, due to the drought, unless it was irrigated, said Hlavinka. According to what he's heard, the seed is not worth anything, after it is ginned. He said that other producers are quoting getting 600 pounds of seed out of three, 500 pound bales of cotton. In a good year, they would expect to get 6-900 pounds of seed per bale.

"Making $25-50 per acre is not that good any more, because you have to have so many acres (to make any profit)," said Hlavinka.

Even if the cotton is picked and ginned, producers are looking at losses.

"The cottonseed itself has little or no value at all. We don't even have a clue, at this point, what the value will be," said Cynthia Beseda of the Farmers' Coop Gin in East Benard.

"We send the majority of our cottonseed to Harlingen to Valley Coop Oil Mill, where they crush it and make all the by-products. Well, it's 'uncrushable,' because it sprouted in the field, due to all the rain. so...the manager is trying to make whole cottonseed sales to Mexico."

It is estimated that about 70 percent of the crops were still in the fields when the rains began in the area. The crops south of the Brazos River were already in, due to the early planting.

"We ginned almost 7000 bales before the rains hit. The way the crop looked, we probably would have ginned, maybe, 22-24,000 bales. Now, we don't know...we don't have a clue," said Beseda.

In a normal season, farmers take their cotton to the gins expecting to receive credit for the cottonseed to help defray the cost of ginning. Due to the grade of cotton, now, they're not going to have that credit, since the ginners don't know for sure what the seed value is. Ginners are guessing it will cost the producer between $30-50 a bale to get it ginned, whereas the cost would usually be $15-20 a bale, according to Beseda.

"The lint itself...the markets are so depressed...they've been depressed for almost a whole year now. Good cotton, today, would probably bring you 30 cents a pound. This cotton we're ginning, today, is dark...the fiber is of low, low quality, so we don't have a clue what it will bring. It could bring as little as 11 cents a pound," said Beseda.

All cotton is graded by the USDA, so until they receive that grade, ginners and producers will not have a definite price for the cotton, she added.

Along with the losses goes debt and insurance concerns for both the producers and the ginners. While producers have some recourse with crop insurance and government subsidies, the ginners don't fare as well, according to Beseda.

"We used to be able to purchase loss of income policies, where if a farmer lost his crop, we wouldn't totally lose out, either. We can't even purchase that, at this point and time. They don't sell it to cotton gins," said Beseda.

The Texas Cotton Ginners Association is looking into trying to get some kind of loss of income insurance for the group, so the ginners can stay in business. Each year, there are less and less gins operating across this part of Texas, according to Beseda.

At the Farmers' Coop Gin, cotton comes from Fort Bend, Wharton, Austin, Matagorda and Waller counties, now.

"This is the last gin before you reach the Brazos Bottom," said Beseda.

According to current laws, producers are required to pick the crops in order to receive insurance payments.

Taking the advice of Texas Agriculture Commissioner Susan Combs, who met with producers, recently, ginners, producers and farm bureaus have initiated a "letter writing" campaign to get the laws amended, due to the situation in the area.

In a letter to Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson, Terry Hlavinka, General Manager of Hlavinka Equipment Company, wrote, "I recommend that the USDA make an emergency addendum to the insurance policy allowing producers with very poor quality lint cotton to destroy crops and accept a zero production appraisal. Alternately or additionally, I urge that a disaster program be enacted, immediately, to address this particular situation."

"I think the insurance companies, locally and even at their headquarters, feel our pain and would like to be able to pay us monies, but they're constrained by the regulations of the federal government, because most all of the money that's paid comes directly in the form of subsidies.

"If they write up all these claims, send us our money and then forward them on to the goverrnment, they're concerned they're going to get hung to dry," said T. Hlavinka.

Almost all producers in the area will have some 'roll-over' debt, this year, according to Hlavinka.

"We've had a lot of disasters...mostly drought related...in the last several years, and so we've become sort of calloused to that. This is more disappointing because we had such a beautiful crop," he added. September 27, 2001 -- Although some cotton producers in South Central Texas witnessed the best crop in years, and were able to pick and gin their crops, many others are suffering terrible losses due to the recent, heavy rains.

Those producers who were able to get their crops in the ground on time in the spring were the fortunate ones. The others had to wait to plant, due to wet ground, and now...after watching their cotton progress and become a banner crop...see it rotting in the fields.

"The problem was...with so much rain...I've heard anywhere from 10-20 inches, the seed was essentially ruined, because it was sprouted," said Brian Hlavinka, farm manager for row crops for Hlavinka Cattle Company in East Bernard.

"We'd just started picking. We started on a Friday and picked Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday," said Hlavinka.

It started raining on Tuesday morning and rained straight for over seven days.

"The cotton stayed wet enough where the seed sprouted. It had enough moisture to keep it hydrated and it sprouted...hanging in the burr," he added.

"So many farmers were about to pay off their debts. Since '96, they haven't really had a good year since then, and they were going to get out of all this with the good crops, this year. And here we are..."

Last year, farmers were lucky to make a bale an acre, due to the drought, unless it was irrigated, said Hlavinka. According to what he's heard, the seed is not worth anything, after it is ginned. He said that other producers are quoting getting 600 pounds of seed out of three, 500 pound bales of cotton. In a good year, they would expect to get 6-900 pounds of seed per bale.

"Making $25-50 per acre is not that good any more, because you have to have so many acres (to make any profit)," said Hlavinka.

Even if the cotton is picked and ginned, producers are looking at losses.

"The cottonseed itself has little or no value at all. We don't even have a clue, at this point, what the value will be," said Cynthia Beseda of the Farmers' Coop Gin in East Benard.

"We send the majority of our cottonseed to Harlingen to Valley Coop Oil Mill, where they crush it and make all the by-products. Well, it's 'uncrushable,' because it sprouted in the field, due to all the rain. so...the manager is trying to make whole cottonseed sales to Mexico."

It is estimated that about 70 percent of the crops were still in the fields when the rains began in the area. The crops south of the Brazos River were already in, due to the early planting.

"We ginned almost 7000 bales before the rains hit. The way the crop looked, we probably would have ginned, maybe, 22-24,000 bales. Now, we don't know...we don't have a clue," said Beseda.

In a normal season, farmers take their cotton to the gins expecting to receive credit for the cottonseed to help defray the cost of ginning. Due to the grade of cotton, now, they're not going to have that credit, since the ginners don't know for sure what the seed value is. Ginners are guessing it will cost the producer between $30-50 a bale to get it ginned, whereas the cost would usually be $15-20 a bale, according to Beseda.

"The lint itself...the markets are so depressed...they've been depressed for almost a whole year now. Good cotton, today, would probably bring you 30 cents a pound. This cotton we're ginning, today, is dark...the fiber is of low, low quality, so we don't have a clue what it will bring. It could bring as little as 11 cents a pound," said Beseda.

All cotton is graded by the USDA, so until they receive that grade, ginners and producers will not have a definite price for the cotton, she added.

Along with the losses goes debt and insurance concerns for both the producers and the ginners. While producers have some recourse with crop insurance and government subsidies, the ginners don't fare as well, according to Beseda.

"We used to be able to purchase loss of income policies, where if a farmer lost his crop, we wouldn't totally lose out, either. We can't even purchase that, at this point and time. They don't sell it to cotton gins," said Beseda.

The Texas Cotton Ginners Association is looking into trying to get some kind of loss of income insurance for the group, so the ginners can stay in business. Each year, there are less and less gins operating across this part of Texas, according to Beseda.

At the Farmers' Coop Gin, cotton comes from Fort Bend, Wharton, Austin, Matagorda and Waller counties, now.

"This is the last gin before you reach the Brazos Bottom," said Beseda.

According to current laws, producers are required to pick the crops in order to receive insurance payments.

Taking the advice of Texas Agriculture Commissioner Susan Combs, who met with producers, recently, ginners, producers and farm bureaus have initiated a "letter writing" campaign to get the laws amended, due to the situation in the area.

In a letter to Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson, Terry Hlavinka, General Manager of Hlavinka Equipment Company, wrote, "I recommend that the USDA make an emergency addendum to the insurance policy allowing producers with very poor quality lint cotton to destroy crops and accept a zero production appraisal. Alternately or additionally, I urge that a disaster program be enacted, immediately, to address this particular situation."

"I think the insurance companies, locally and even at their headquarters, feel our pain and would like to be able to pay us monies, but they're constrained by the regulations of the federal government, because most all of the money that's paid comes directly in the form of subsidies.

"If they write up all these claims, send us our money and then forward them on to the goverrnment, they're concerned they're going to get hung to dry," said T. Hlavinka.

Almost all producers in the area will have some 'roll-over' debt, this year, according to Hlavinka.

"We've had a lot of disasters...mostly drought related...in the last several years, and so we've become sort of calloused to that. This is more disappointing because we had such a beautiful crop," he added.