http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/29/business/29cotton.html

“There’s a lot more money to be made in cotton right now,” said
Ramon Vela, a farmer here in the Texas Panhandle, as he stood in a field where
he grew wheat last year, its stubble now plowed under to make way for cotton.
Around the first week of May, Mr. Vela, 37, will plant 1,100 acres of cotton, up
from 210 acres a year ago. “The prices are the big thing,” he said. “That’s the
driving force.”

The shift is particularly noticeable in the Texas Panhandle, where cotton is a
relative newcomer. Traditionally, the region was too far north and the growing
season too short for cotton. But within the last decade, hardier varieties were
introduced and slowly the crop caught on. One reason for cotton’s growing
popularity is that it takes far less water to grow than corn. Panhandle farmers
tap into the Ogallala Aquifer, but that water source is being depleted and
farmers face looming restrictions on water use.