American cotton producers will reduce cotton acreage by more than 10 per cent in the 2015 growing season. The main reason is fluctuating cotton prices. Water and prices will be the main driving factors in determining acreage across Texas. Arizona, New Mexico and California may plant not more than 3,62,000 cotton acres combined in 2015, enough to account for little more than three per cent of the national total.

The US is the third largest producer of cotton. China is the largest producer but uses most of its production at home. Texas is the leading cotton-producing state in the US. About two thirds of the harvested crop is composed of the seed, which is crushed to separate its three products–oil, meal and hulls. Cotton seed oil is a common component of many food items, used primarily as a cooking oil, shortening and salad dressing. The oil is used extensively in the preparation of such snack foods as crackers, cookies and chips. The meal and hulls are used as livestock, poultry and fish feed and as fertilizer.

Cotton is grown in 17 states stretching across the southern half of the United States. It is produced on about 18,600 farms in the country. Planting begins as early as February 1 in South Texas and as late as June 1 in northern areas of the cotton belt.

About 99 per cent of the US upland crop is planted in transgenic varieties –genetically engineered varieties resistant to worms, herbicides, or both.