2015 Upland Cotton Marketing Assistance Loan Rate Announced

Commodity Credit Corporation Executive Vice President Val Dolcini today announced the marketing assistance loan rate for 2015-crop base quality upland cotton.

“Marketing assistance loans provide interim financing to producers at or after harvest to help them meet cash flow needs without having to sell their commodities when market prices are typically at harvest-time lows,” said Dolcini, who is also the administrator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm Service Agency. “I encourage producers in need of assistance to contact their local USDA Farm Service Agency office today for additional information on eligibility requirements.”

Base quality upland cotton has the following characteristics: color grade 41, leaf grade 4, staple length 1-1/16 inches, micronaire 3.5 to 3.6 and 4.3 to 4.9, strength 26.0 to 28.9 grams per tex and length uniformity of 80.0 to 81.9 percent.

The 2014 Farm Bill sets the base quality marketing assistance loan rate for upland cotton at the simple average of the adjusted prevailing world price for the two immediately preceding marketing years, as determined by the Secretary of Agriculture and announced Oct. 1, before the next domestic plantings. The marketing assistance loan rate cannot be less than 45 cents per pound or greater than 52 cents per pound.

Since the calculation exceeded the maximum allowed level, the 2015-crop marketing assistance loan rate for upland cotton is set at 52 cents per pound.

Today's announcement was made possible through the 2014 Farm Bill, which builds on historic economic gains in rural America over the past five years, while achieving meaningful reform and billions of dollars in savings for the taxpayer. Since enactment, USDA has made significant progress to implement each provision of this critical legislation, including providing disaster relief to farmers and ranchers; strengthening risk management tools; expanding access to rural credit; funding critical research; establishing innovative public-private conservation partnerships; developing new markets for rural-made products; and investing in infrastructure, housing and community facilities to help improve quality of life in rural America. For more information, visit www.usda.gov/farmbill.