West Texas cotton leaders are pressing Congress and USDA for a stronger farm policy, emergency assistance and disaster support as drought and weak margins squeeze producers. Plains Cotton Growers vice president Keith Patrick said the group recently met about 26 lawmakers and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.

The meetings covered the state of the regional crop, cotton prices, the farm bill and aid for drought and other weather losses. Patrick said producers need dependable safety-net programmes while costs stay high.

The Senate Agriculture Committee advanced the Agriculture Act of 2026 on 16 September, but the bill must clear further steps before becoming law, and cotton growers want to keep it from being pushed aside by other priorities. The group is also following emergency and disaster assistance proposals; drought, fires, freezes and severe weather are straining agriculture well beyond cotton, Patrick said.

Photo: Kimberly Vardeman / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

Source: All Ag News