Amarillo, TX -- Shifting trends in area farming will be felt across the panhandle's collective pocketbook.
Agriculture is by far the largest sector of the panhandle's economy, so any major changes are felt far and wide.
This year's crop production eclipsed last years across the board, but that is largely due to 2011's record drought which decimated Texas crop production.
Scarcity created price hikes and in turn production surges for many crops, cotton especially. Those surges led to gluts in the market, as AgriLife Extension Economist Dr. Stephen Amosson explains,
"Two years ago, when we saw $2.00 cotton, which was a record price, everybody across the world decided that they were going to plant cotton, and then prices started coming down, and they planted more cotton."
Cotton is big business in the panhandle - Texas is the king of cotton, producing a quarter of the national supply, far more than any other state.
But falling prices mean some cotton farmers may make a transition to crops with a higher profit margin, like sorghum or wheat.
If you'd like to see a recent USDA production report or a Happy State Bank economic report, follow the associated links.
