Some Texas farmers are still harvesting their cotton, while gins throughout the Big Country and Concho Valley are operating around the clock, according to the Abilene Reporter-News.
USDA cotton classing offices have already graded more than 4 million bales and counting, according to the Abilene Reporter-News.
The Lubbock classing office reported 219,522 samples classed last week, bringing the season total to 2,540,795 bales from 74 gins.
In Lamesa, 19,445 bales were classed last week, bringing the season total to 1,043,317 bales from 40 gins.
The Abilene classing office reported 59,925 bales graded between Christmas and New Year’s Day from 43 gins in West and Central Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas, bringing its season total to 752,756 bales.
A total of 37,748 bales were graded last week and 424,020 for the season from the Big Country and Concho Valley, plus the southeast portion of West Texas, along with all of Central and East Texas. Oklahoma has submitted 290,062 samples this season to date while Kansas’ season total stands at 38,674 bales.
The Corpus Christi classing office processed 1,356,401 bales from 60 gins in South Texas and the Coastal Bend.
Farmers in areas of Texas and Oklahoma raked in their highest cotton yields ever this year. The strong yields and strong prices have some eyeing more cotton acres in 2017.
According to AgWeb, 2016 saw a big boost in cotton plantings, up an estimated 17 percent over 2015.
Cotton prices, according to the National Cotton Council (NCC), saw a decent year in 2016.
“We typically do see cotton prices stronger relative to the primary competing crops,” Gary Adams, president and CEO of the NCC, told AgWeb. “It’s not that where cotton prices are compared to cost of production are necessarily that attractive to growers, but it is more attractive compared to corn and soybeans. That’s why the feedback we’re getting is a lot of growers are looking at increasing their cotton plantings for 2017.”
But Adams said it’s still too early to determine the extent of an acreage shift.