PRATTVILLE, Ala. (AP) - Cotton farmers in central Alabama will be bucking a national trend this year as local producers plant more acreage in cotton.

Nationwide, cotton production has fallen about 40 percent from
its height in 2005 as farmers switched to corn and other grains.

Jeff Thompson of the Autauga Quality Cotton Assciation said this
year in Alabama there be an estimated 360,000 acres planted compared with 2009's tally of about 260,000 acres. In 2005, there
were 650,000 acres planted in the state.

In Autauga County in central Alabama farmers say they expect to
plant more cotton than other grains this year.

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