2000 Cotton Acreage in Florida
Despite the current low process for cotton and unfavorable weather conditions for getting row crops planted this spring, Florida farmers still managed to plant more than 100,000 acres of cotton for this year. The following information was obtained from the Florida Boll Weevil Eradication Program and represents cotton acreage currently identified and trapped.
County
Acres
County
Acres
Escambia
17,599
Gadsden
798
Santa Rosa 29,172
Jefferson
1,540
Okaloosa
5,320
Madison
378
Walton
14,546
Hamilton
1,208
Holmes
4,881
Suwannee
700
Washington
1,515
Columbia
119
Jackson
38,441
Baker
18
Calhoun
7,450
The above represents a total of 123,685 acres, the largest cotton in recent years. The two counties with the greatest cotton plantings, Jackson and Santa Rosa, account for nearly 55% of the acreage in the state. More than 96% of the cotton is west of the Apalachicola River.
Although Florida has considerable cotton acreage this year, it is unlikely that many of the acres will be harvested because of poor stands and poor growth due to the drought. At the present time, Boll Weevil Eradication personnel estimate that approximately 25,000 acres will be abandoned or destroyed. Most of this acreage is in the far west panhandle.
(Sprenkel, NFREC News, 2-15)