A symptom of cotton leafroll dwarf virus in late-crop stages is abnormal plant growth. There were a very small number of field disasters from Cotton Leafroll Dwarf Virus across the Cotton Belt in 2019 and 2020.
The sky isn’t falling with the Cotton Leafroll Dwarf Virus, CLRDV with efforts underway across the Cotton Belt to take on the disease.
That’s the message Steve Brown, Auburn University Extension cotton agronomist, delivered to the virtual annual meeting of Southern Cotton Growers and Southeastern Cotton Ginners Jan. 14. Brown emphasized there were a very small number of field disasters from CLRDV across the Cotton Belt in 2019 and 2020. In fact, Brown said the incidence of CLRDV was less in 2020 than it was in 2019.
The president and CEO of Staplcotn expects cotton acreage to be down in the United States in 2021 due to the challenges of harvesting the 2020 crop and a move to alternative crops.
Still, Hank Reichle is generally bullish on the cotton outlook with low supply chain inventories and a tightening U.S. balance sheet helping prices. On the bearish side, the pandemic is hampering demand, and cotton still faces tough competition from cheaper manmade fibers.
“At the end of the day, cotton’s price is trying to make a comeback. It is trying to keep some of that land in cotton, but we will probably lose some acres simply because some people want to diversify, maybe get some corn planted tthey can harvest a little bit sooner, and/or put less at risk with soybeans,” Reichle said in a presentation to the virtual Southern Cotton Growers/Southeastern Cotton Ginners annual meeting Jan. 15.