COTTON INDUSTRY PORTRAYS STORY OF SUCCESS

Cotton bows open 50 to 70 days after bloom.

Nearly 70 percent of harvested cotton is formed into modules, covered with water-resistant tarps and stored in the field unit it can be ginned.

Cotton's role in the Southeast Missouri and U.S. economy is a major one.

The nation's cotton industry generates more than $50 billion in annual revenue.

"This makes cotton America's number one value-added crop," said T. Cotton Nelson, of the National Cotton Council of Memphis, Tenn.

The cotton industry is in the midst of a remarkable success story, said Nelson. Production and consumption of the crop are at record levels; consumer preference for cotton products increase each year, and international markets are driving U.S. exports to levels not seen since the 1970s.

During a typical year, the production and processing of this raw material and its byproducts employ more than 340,000 Americans and involve the purchase of more than $25 billion in supplies and services, according to the cotton council.

Council officials report that production of last year's 19-million bale crop in the United States involved farmers' purchase of $4 billion worth of fertilizers, fuel, equipment and other farm supplies and services.

After cotton leaves the farm, it generates vigorous business activity for more than 3,000 domestic processing and handling firms -- gins, cottonseed mills, warehouses, merchandisers and textile manufacturers.

The textile manufacturing jobs pay higher wages than many service jobs and create three times more secondary jobs as service jobs, added Nelson.

Cotton production nationally this year is expected to produce from 19 to 21 million bales, with cotton plantings totaling more than 16 million acres.

Southeast Missouri shares in the cotton story. More than 350,000 acres of cotton was planted in seven Southeast Missouri counties in 1994, providing more than $105 million to the economy.

Cotton producers this year planted more than 450,000 acres, up 35 percent from 1994, and the highest level in the state since 1953. Production is estimated at record levels, although the pounds per acre may be down.

A report from the office of Ray Nabors, Pemiscot County Extension office at Caruthersville, is that the yield may not be quite as big as 1994, due to late planting, too much rain at times and some insect problems.

The yield, predicts a spokesman at the Pemiscot County office, should still be good, but not at the record-high of earlier predictions of more than 825 pounds per acre.

All Missouri cotton is raised in seven Southeast area counties, led by Dunklin County, with more than 135,000 acres annually. Other big cotton counties include New Madrid and Pemiscot. New Madrid farmers have planted more than 90,000 acres the past three years, and Pemiscot County totals have been around the 75,000-acre mark. Cotton is also raised in Stoddard, Scott, Mississippi and Butler counties.

Six Missourians hold leadership positions in the National Cotton Council, which has been in existence more than 50 years. The council was founded in 1938 in downtown Memphis, and is now located on Poplar Street, near the Memphis Zoo.

Senath cotton grower Charles H. Parker is regional director of the council's producer steering committee and John L. Sanders, a cotton farmer from Steele, is state producer chairman for Missouri-Illinois.

Jim Johnson of Vanduser Gin Co., Vanduser, is chairman of the council's Missouri-Illinois unit; Charles Mayberry, a grower from Bernie, is second vice chairman and Sikeston cooperative official John D. Hux Jr. is secretary. Chuck Ernest, Dolphin Gin Co., Steele, is second vice president of the council's National Cotton Ginners Association.

The cotton dollar turns over 10 times in the nation's economy, say cotton council officials. It is a unique agricultural commodity, and is used in thousands of products, ranging from underwear to explosives.

A new benchmark will be established for the annual value of raw U.S. cotton when overseas sales reach 10 million bales and $3.5 billion. In addition, overseas sales of yarn, denim and other cotton products are in the billions of dollars and rising.

The 1994 cotton crop was the largest in U.S. history and the 1995 crop could top that.

"Increased productivity is necessary," said Nelson. "The nation's cotton consumption has nearly doubled since 1985. U.S. textile firms have increased their raw cotton processing from 6.2 million bales in 1985 to a near record 11.1 million bales in 1994, and are poised for even greater capacity in the year ahead."

America's love for denim blue jeans has resulted in the need for more cotton.

According to the national council, cotton captured 67 percent of the U.S. clothing market in 1994, up 2 percent from 1993. In 1985, cotton had 42 percent of the clothing market. The bulk of that 25 percent increase over the past decade has been in the blue jean market.

"Cotton's most recent surge in the apparel sector is due, in large part to consumers' fondness for denim jeans," said Jim Howell, a council market analyst.

Howell added that more than 400 million pairs of denim jeans were made in the United States last year, up 7.8 percent from 1994. "That 7.8 percent increase required an additional 114,000 bales, or nearly 55 millions pounds of cotton." A total of 1.9 million bales were used in the jeans.