Eight States Show Big Jumps in Cotton Harvest

In advance of the November 8 USDA Cotton Ginnings report, cotton harvest throughout the U.S. Cotton Belt hummed along during the past week, gaining another 11 percentage points over the previous week, according to the November 3 Crop Progress report.

On average, 43 percent of the 2013 cotton crop has now been harvested in the primary cotton-growing states, with the largest state increases coming in Arkansas, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Tennessee. Harvest is still lagging a week or two behind the four-year average, but growers are taking advantage of generally good weather conditions to make up ground.

Crop conditions remain steady in this week’s report, with a very slight increase in the percentage of cotton rated fair, good or excellent.