Brazil Cotton
Question from Zach:
"Do they (Brazil’s farmers) have the infrastructure to handle big acres of cotton? Cotton harvesters are more expensive than combines, do they have one sitting in the shed waiting for that odd year they decide to grow cotton? I've only really been up to date with the happenings of South America since I've been getting your daily emails the last couple years. When was the last time they planted big acres of cotton there? Also, when was the last time El Nino caused a planting delay this long and what happened back then? Did they grow cotton? How was the second crop corn? Thanks Zach"
Depending on the weather and acreage, the USA and Brazil flip-flop as the #3 and #4 world leading cotton producers. China and India, with 1.4 billion people each, are, by far, the world’s leading cotton producers. So, Brazil does have the infrastructure to handle the third or fourth largest cotton crop in the world.
Twenty years ago, Brazil produced approximately three million bales of cotton. Ten years ago, Brazil produced 7.5 million bales and last year, Brazil produced 13.2 million bales. Check out the graph of leading cotton producing countries:
