Dry Weather Hits Cotton Hard

As a result of extreme and exceptional drought across large portions of the western Cotton Belt, USDA’s August 6 Crop Progress report revealed that only 40 percent of the cotton crop was in good-to-excellent condition, down from 57 percent in good-to-excellent condition the prior year and down from the five-year average of 51 percent good-to-excellent. Texas, the largest cotton-producing state, has the poorest cotton crop conditions, with only 21 percent of the crop in good-to-excellent condition and 49 percent in poor-to-very-poor condition. Figure 1 highlights the good-to-excellent rating for cotton as of the week ending August 5.