Of its devastated cotton fields, there is almost nothing left, perhaps 20% to save. The drought that hit part of the United States destroyed most of the production of Sutton Page, a Texas farmer.
This year his harvest “is not at its peak,” he says with the moderation of a man who has seen others. The reality is that of a disaster: in his region, in the north of the state, he assures AFP by telephone, almost all of his colleagues will not even harvest cotton, leaving all their fields “bare, bare”.
Texas produces nearly half of America’s cotton, with the United States being the world’s third largest supplier after India and China. This year, domestic production will hit its lowest level since 2015, down 21% year-on-year, and Texas will experience a 58% decline, according to the latest estimates from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
In the state’s northwest, where “cotton is king” and water is scarce, the 2022 harvest “could be one of the worst in 30 years,” worries Darren Hudson, professor of agricultural economics at Texas Tech University. With the cascading consequences on the rest of the textile industry, in August he estimated the economic losses for the region at two billion dollars.
Landon Orman, 30, works on 2,000 acres near Abilene, three hours west of Dallas. Its non-irrigated cotton “has not even germinated”, its partially watered cotton has grown but should have a yield reduced by half. In total, according to him, a drop of 85% compared to the production of a normal year.
Like so many others, he has crop insurance, so “financially it’s fine. But as a farmer, it really bothers us not to be able to grow our own plants, that’s what I like,” he says.
– Depressing –
In Lubbock, the local cotton capital, rainfall in the past 12 months, before the rains that came too late in August, were half the norm.
“From January to May, we literally didn’t rain,” said Sutton Page, 48. Minimal rainfall during winter and spring left very dry soil at planting time.
“And since May we’ve seen days coming in at over 37 ° C and winds at 50km / h, and he’s fried everything,” he recalls. Texas experienced its second hottest summer on record.
At home, without the possibility of irrigation, he had to plow four-fifths of his cotton fields, which had been destroyed, to prevent them from drying out.
Of his remaining 20%, Sutton Page describes “short plants”, small fruits, less cotton. “We are considering whether it is economically viable to harvest, or if we simply have to destroy it.”
“It’s a little depressing, you work hard all year round, you prepare your farm, you spread fertilizer and your crops don’t grow,” continues the farmer, also president of the Rolling Plains Association of Cotton Producers.
This year of drought, “it’s one you will tell your grandchildren,” notes Barry Evans. Of its 800 hectares of cotton near Lubbock, only the irrigated quarter will be harvested, the rest abandoned.
– Frequency –
As a farmer in these high plains of Texas, “you know there are going to be bad years,” says Mr. Evans, “it’s part of life here.” “Let’s not forget” 2011, its drought and its very poor harvest, says the 60-year-old farmer.
That of 2022, which ends at the end of the year, could be even worse. Are they more and more frequent?
The region “is experiencing worse conditions than last year,” and these are settling over time, observes Curtis Riganti, a climatologist at a research center dedicated to drought. But, cautiously, he does not prefer to attribute it to climate change, which makes extreme weather phenomena more frequent and more intense on a planetary scale.
“Over the past decade, we’ve seen maybe five, six years of drought and one or two of those have been catastrophic,” said Kody Bessent, director of the Lubbock Region Cotton Farmers’ Association.
Among the farmers, “it was such a hot summer”, “we all ask ourselves: + are droughts more frequent? +”, Notes Barry Evans.
It is “an important topic of conversation”.
These farmers in Texas, a state where climate skeptics abound, rather see cycles repeating themselves, without certainty.
Waiting for answers, everyone tries to keep the soil moisture in the best possible way.
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