Cotton Harvest Progress

Cotton Harvest Progress

Tim Hammerich
Tim Hammerich
News Reporter
I’m Tim Hammerich with your Southeast Regional Ag Report.

Cotton harvest is upon us, although progress still lags behind the 5-year average.

Rippey… “And as we look at the cotton harvest, this could become important as a new tropical storm is brewing in the Western Caribbean, potentially heading for the Gulf coast region of the U S later this week. But for the time being, as of October 4th, we are seeing 17% of the U S cotton harvested at slightly behind the five year average of 20%. Also behind last year's 22%.”

That’s USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey. He says storms have played a factor in the areas that are furthest behind.

Rippey… “We see a number of states where the cotton harvest is at least 10 percentage points behind the five year average pace. Most notably in Alabama, just 2% harvested versus 16%. Arkansas, 13% of the cotton harvested versus 29% on average. And Mississippi 17% harvested versus 31% on average.”

All of those states he mentioned have been hit by tropical systems over the past couple of weeks, creating conditions that make it challenging to get into the field to harvest.

Rippey also noted that as of October 4th, 83% of cotton bolls are open, which is actually ahead of the five year average.

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