Texas is forecast to produce 660 million bales of cotton this year.
The Texas High Plains produces about 4 million cotton bales a year, around two-thirds of the state’s cotton crop. A quarter of cotton grown in the U.S. comes from this region and 4 percent of the global supply, according to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.
Cotton farmers are preparing to harvest in the High Plains, according to AgriLife Today’s weekly crop report. The report said the cotton crop in the Panhandle is across the board with some fields showing open bolls to still blooming.
Cotton yields in the High Plains are expected to be average. The fields that received more rain and irrigated cotton are looking better.
A dry stretch during July stressed cotton plants, but the rains the region received earlier in the year helped give it a good start.
“We had a good start,” Seth Byrd, an agronomist for Texas A&M AgriLife’s research station north of Lubbock told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. “We had enough soil moisture to get the crop established and some good vegetative growth.”
So the mid-summer dry stretch didn’t stress the cotton as much and the rains in May helped pull the cotton though development.
“We’ve had rains when we needed ’em, especially early,” Steven Verett, executive vice president of Plains Cotton Growers, told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.
They all agreed they expect higher yields from the irrigated cotton. Verett said he predicts 3.4 million acres of cotton will be harvested from the region.
But with cotton prices dropping, farmers are looking to the federal government to help. A ginning cost-share program provides some assistance in the form of a one-time, acreage-based payment.
Cotton harvest is mostly complete in South Texas and will wrap up in the next couple weeks in Central Texas, according to AgriLife Today’s crop and weather report. Cotton harvest is underway in the northern region of the state.