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Texas Agriculture Archive
November 17, 2006
November 17, 2006
The Cotton Research & Promotion Program (CR&PP) shows a return on investment of 5.7 to 1 for U.S. cotton producers and 14.4 to 1 for U.S. importers, findings of an economic effectiveness study conducted by Cotton Incorporated show.
Conducted by two economics professors at Texas A&M University—Dr. Oral Capps, Jr. and Dr. Gary Williams—in part with Forecasting and Business Analytics (FABA), LLC, the evaluation sought to answer two key questions: first, how effective has the program been at increasing the demand for cotton and cotton products and improving cotton's competitive market position; and second, what was the overall return on investment (ROI) for U.S. cotton producers and importers who fund the CR&PP?
"These results explain how the higher benefit-cost ratio for importers reflects revenue gains not only from additional sales of 100-percent cotton textiles but from 'spillover' sales of man-made textiles comprised of other fibers in addition to cotton," explains Capps.
The positive impact of the program's promotional activities is apparent in the study's findings. Results show that between 1992-2004, cumulative retail sales revenues for cotton textiles attributed to the check-off program reached nearly $140 billion—averaging about $11 billion annually. The study also found that average U.S. consumption of cotton textiles was about 10 percent higher than would have been the case without the program.
"To summarize the findings of the study, this analysis clearly demonstrates that importers, just like producers, benefit from the cotton check-off," comments Cotton Board's Chair Nancy Marino.
Conducted every five years, this independent study is part of a requirement established in the 1996 Farm Bill for all check-off programs. The results of this evaluation were consistent with the findings from the two past similar studies of the program, which were conducted in 1996 and 2001.
The state's largest farm organization became even larger during the course of 2006, reports Jim Nance, director of field operations.
Texas Farm Bureau's final membership numbers for the year rang in at 395,854, which represents an 88 percent renewal rate—one of the highest in more than 25 years—and a net gain of 7,991 member families over last year's total.
"Congratulations!" Nance said. "Your hard work has resulted in an outstanding membership year for Texas Farm Bureau."
AFBF is partnering for the eighth year with Dodge Trucks by offering scholarships to support FFA youth in pursuit of higher education.
To apply, a student must be an FFA member and a member of a Farm Bureau family. Students must complete the official National FFA Scholarship Application including the parent financial analysis section, as financial need will be considered. Applications must be postmarked by Feb.15, 2007. Scholarships are available in all 50 states.
The National FFA Scholarship Program, through the sponsorship of AFBF, Dodge and other generous corporations and individuals, awards more than $2 million in scholarships annually to FFA members.
Notable Quotables
"Gasoline prices have dropped dramatically, and that gives some people cause to wonder, but not me. I don't think there's any place you could build a plant and not make money. Turning farm crops into automobile fuel has the potential to be the biggest change in agriculture since the introduction of the soybean."
—Ron Plain, agricultural economist at the University of Missouri, commenting on the economics of ethanol in a Kansas City Star article.
At the GrowAmerica Summit in Indianapolis, Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said the Bush administration has a clear time line to present its suggestions on the 2007 farm bill to Congress.
"I still think that it's going to be in the January time frame," Johanns told Brownfield Network. "Now, I'm going to hedge a little bit as I've done every time I've talked about this—I won't tell you if it's January 15th or the end of January or the first week of February or whatever," he said. "But we are on track to have our proposals up on the Hill."
Johanns said the proposal would include many of the suggestions made during dozens of USDA farm bill listening sessions. He also said the proposals would not be general in nature.
"Whether we do it through an actual legislative package or a specific list of proposals, it is going to be specific," he said.
Texas Farm Bureau member and Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan accepts
a jacket presented by TFB Public Relations Director Gene Hall designating
Ryan as the official spokesman of the "Step up to the Plate for Farm
Safety Campaign." The campaign is part of the American Farm Bureau
Foundation for Agriculture's Agricultural Safety Awareness Program. The
photograph was taken at Ryan's Ranch near Gonzales.
