A Drought Update for the U.S. Cotton Belt
With your Southeast Regional Ag News, I am Haylie Shipp. This is the Ag Information Network.
It’s a mixed bag drought-wise for the U.S. Cotton Belt. Brad Rippey, agricultural meteorologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture…
“Let’s just go west to east, I’m going to start in California which has had remarkable recovery from a three-year drought. The only problem there is that some of the cotton acreage has actually been affected by flooding in the San Juaquin Valley. But otherwise, in terms of water allocations, soil moisture, everything is looking really good for California. That’s also true for the desert southwest.”
The drought is still deeply entrenched in the Southern Great Plains. Good news there, according to Rippey, is that we may hopefully see some recovery coming from a return of El Nino. Thjs normally means wetter weather for the area.
“As we move further east, everything is looking pretty good. From the Texas coast to the Delta to the southern Atlantic region, almost all of those areas have plenty of moisture heading into the growing season. And it’s looking like a really optimistic year for growers in the Delta or the southeast in terms of cotton production for 2023.”
Again Brad Rippey, agricultural meteorologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
