Including Catfish

The military command of “March in Place” remains the standard order for the cotton market. Pricing movement through the week remained limited and non-aggressive, yet nothing happened. Trading volume did little more that create a big yawn, but the cotton market continues to perform more favorably than either the soybean or corn futures markets. The July/December inversion continues to hold, but only by a few points. The market still reflects the immediate demand for cotton in the U.S. export market.

Cotton harvest. ©Debra L Ferguson Average spot quotations were 37 points lower than the previous week, according to the USDA, Agricultural Marketing Service’s Cotton and Tobacco Program. Quotations for the base quality of cotton (color 41, leaf 4, staple 34, mike 35-36 and 43-49, strength 27.0-28.9, and uniformity 81.0-81.9) in the seven designated markets averaged 53.51 cents per pound for the week ending Thursday, May 28, 2020.

Summary During the past week, widespread rain and thunderstorms fell across parts of the Great Plains, including a few instances of severe weather. Particularly large amounts of rain in central and eastern Nebraska, as well as in adjacent states, improved what had been a quickly drying scenario in many locations. Above-normal precipitation also fell in parts of the Northwest, which led to improvement in parts (though not all) of the ongoing drought areas there.