Some dryland cotton yields better this year: West Texas, Oklahoma

Dryland cotton farmers of West Texas and Western Oklahoma will have better yields this season than the last three years.

Southwest Farm Press reports lack of rainfall will prevent dryland cotton from making yields that seemed more than possible earlier in the season for both the Texas Plains and Western Oklahoma. But farmers in both areas will make some non-irrigated cotton this year, a better outcome than many achieved in the last few seasons.

According to reports by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, approximately 4 million acres of cotton were planted in the two regions by June. The abandonment rate is expected to be about 25 percent this year.

“Currently, there are a lot of reasons to remain optimistic about dryland cotton,” said Mark Kelley, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service agronomist in Lubbock. “It could average out to be pretty good dryland year. For sure, it’s going to be a much better crop than we had for the last three years, which was practically zero.”