By Jennifer Dorsett
Field Editor
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) recently released Annual Cotton Review held some surprises for Texas cotton production figures.
Final 2019 upland cotton production for Texas was estimated at 6.32 million 480-pound bales, according to data provided by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). The average yield was estimated at 578 pounds per acre, down 205 pounds from 2018.
Nationally, final 2019 upland cotton production was estimated at 19.2 million 480-pound bales, up 9 percent from the previous year. The U.S. average yield was estimated at 810 pounds per acre, down 55 pounds from 2018.
A total of 11.4 million acres of upland cotton were harvested across the U.S. last year, with 5.25 million of those coming from the Lone Star State.
Texas remains the nation’s top cotton-producing state. Georgia came in second, with 1.38 million acres of upland cotton harvested in 2019.
For the first time in recent history, a Texas High Plains county did not top national production charts, a fact attributed to the wildly unpredictable weather experienced in the region for the 2019 crop year.
Plains Cotton Growers (PCG), a coalition of Texas High Plains cotton farmers, reported some area cotton farmers didn’t get a crop planted due to wet conditions during planting season, and others had a lower-than-average harvest due to hot, dry growing conditions, especially in August.
“According to the final county level production estimates, the PCG 42-county service area accounted for about 48 percent of the 6.3 million bales of upland cotton produced in Texas this past season. To compare, the Texas High Plains usually produces about two-thirds of the state’s crop,” Mary Jane Buerkle, PCG director of Communications and Public Affairs, said.
For 2019, she added, just four of the top 10 cotton-producing counties in the U.S. were within 80 miles of Lubbock.
Nationally, Mississippi County, Arkansas took the number-one spot, with 283,000 bales of upland cotton produced in 2019. Texas’ San Patricio County was second, Nueces County took third and Coahoma County, Mississippi was fourth. Hockley County, also in Texas, rounded out the top five cotton-producing counties in the nation.
San Patricio County was the most productive county in the Lone Star State, harvesting a total of 271,000 bales of upland cotton in 2019, followed by Nueces County at 269,100 bales. Hockley County, which is in the Southern High Plains district, came in third with 248,500 bales produced. Lubbock and Lynn counties were fourth and fifth in Texas, respectively.
By USDA NASS district, the 16 counties of the Southern High Plains produced the most, with 2,136,700 bales produced in 2019.
Yield-wise, Zavala County in South Texas topped state charts with an average yield of 1,602 pounds per acre of upland cotton. Uvalde County in the Edwards Plateau district placed second with 1,518 pounds per acre, followed by Medina County in South Central Texas at 1,489 pounds per acre. Frio and Robertson counties were fourth and fifth.
For more information on cotton production and other crops, visit the USDA NASS Texas page at https://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Texas/.