High Plains Cotton Profitability Project

High Plains cotton producers must make decisions in an economic environment greatly influenced by highly volatile costs and prices and with a number of newly available technological advances to help them maintain profitability to sustain their operations. These additional pressures and choices require the best tools and information to analyze profit potential accurately. New varieties with higher yields, more herbicide compatibility and insect resistance along with more efficient irrigation systems have helped producers survive pressure from several years of low prices and increased costs. But it is requiring them to sharpen their pencils and take a hard look at their many choices. Add to that record high market volatility and cotton farmers are truly in need of an effective tool and the necessary training to effectively make the comparisons between crops and determine optimum use of resources and technologies available. The overall objective of this project is to put in the hands of cotton producers a spreadsheet-based tool to assist them in evaluating profitability of alternative technologies and crops. The budgets are updated as prices and costs change and are made available not only in workshops but by mail, e-mail and from the profitability project website. In several workshops conducted each year, producers are trained to use the software to accurately estimate the profitability of various technologies, crops and marketing strategies. Participants receive CDs with the budgeting software and other supporting information to help them utilize the software. The budgeting spreadsheet includes over 20 crops. A workshop agenda has been developed that involves a close examination of costs, crop prices, relative profitability as well as marketing strategies.