Comments Filed On CFTC Proposal (67k pdf)
The NCC, along with AMCOT and the American Cotton Shippers Assoc., filed comments with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in response to a proposal to impose position limits on market participants in commodities markets.

Commodity Groups Respond to Negative Editorial
The NCC recently led a group of commodity organizations in responding to a misleading Wall Street Journal op-ed entitled, “Harvesting Crop Insurance Profits.”

USDA January Production Report
In its January crop report, USDA estimated a '14-15 US crop of 16.08 million bales. Upland production was estimated at 15.50 million bales and extra-long staple production at 588,000 bales. Harvested area was an estimated 9.71 million acres, implying a non-harvested area of roughly 1.33 million acres based on numbers revised from USDA’s June acreage report. The resulting abandonment rate is roughly 12.05%. The national yield per harvested acre was estimated to be 795 pounds, 24 pounds less than the five-year average.

FSA Announces New Yield Data for Safety Net Calculations
USDA's Farm Service Agency is offering farmers new information to update program payment yields that will help them better select protections offered by the Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs.

STAX/Farm Bill Workshop/Webinar Information Available
Cotton industry members and agribusiness personnel are encouraged to access information recently presented at the NCC's 25 STAX/Farm Bill workshops as well as information (including audio/video) presented in the NCC's four regional webinars held on December 17-18. Among important elements of The Agricultural Act of 2014 that were covered in those sessions were an in-depth look at the new Stacked Income Protection Plan (STAX) and the Supplemental Coverage Option along with regional examples of insurance rates and county yields.

RMA Announces APH Details
The Risk Management Agency (RMA) announced program details related to the Actual Production History (APH) Yield Exclusion. Information made available includes eligible crops, crop years and counties where producers are eligible to exclude certain yields under the new provision; a fact sheet; and a list of frequently asked questions.

RMA Yield Data
The database includes yield per planted acre as determined by USDA's Risk Management Agency (RMA). Yields reflect the weighted-average results for producers in the production areas used in the implementation of the Stacked Income Protection Plan (STAX) and the Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) for upland cotton. Production areas are defined as a county or grouping of counties.

Beltwide Cotton Conferences Offer Effective Decision-Making Help
Attendees at the '15 Beltwide Cotton Conferences will have access to individual reports and panel discussions containing information useful for helping them make key cotton research, production and marketing-related decisions.

Farm Bill Frequently Asked Questions
Following the series of farm bill education meetings, the NCC prepared a list of frequently asked questions on the The Agricultural Act of 2014.

Farm Bill Summary and Overview (click here)
This NCC-prepared document contains the basic preliminaries of The Agricultural Act of 2014 that passed out of the House/Senate Conference. The bill is subject to verification when legislative language is reviewed.

FSA Posts Farm Bill Fact Sheet
USDA's Farm Service Agency has created a fact sheet entitled, "What’s in the 2014 Farm Bill for Farm Service Agency Customers?" that includes highlights of The Agricultural Act of 2014 (the Act), also known as the 2014 Farm Bill.