Cotton producers can forward price their crop at anytime during the year by using the futures market. Thus a producer is not limited to the price available at harvest. It may be profitable to forward price the crop before planting, during the growing period, or while in storage. During the 1989-1992 period futures prices ranged from 49 to 87 cents per lb. for both March and December contracts. Consequently, by forecasting net prices, producers might have captured profit opportunities during this time.