| The purpose of this paper is to assess the opportunity returns forgone to cotton producers in the lower Mid-South region of the United States for growing cotton, compared to alternative commodities. We calculate the actual net returns per acre for selected cotton-producing counties in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. In addition, we calculate the opportunity returns per acre if the acres planted in cotton were planted in the highest net return commodity per acre between corn and soybeans during the period 1997 through 2008. Our results find that producers in these cotton producing-counties faced sizeable opportunity revenues foregone averaging 43% between 2003 and 2008. Most observers of the cotton industry would argue that these foregone revenues are... |
