The 2014 U.S. cotton crop continues to benefit from favorable growing conditions throughout the Cotton Belt, according to the weekly numbers in the USDA Crop Progress report dated July 20.
Squaring and boll set numbers are both above the five-year average for the date, with 85 percent of all cotton reporting squares and 38 percent of the crop now showing bolls.
The biggest gains in squaring numbers came from states with later planted crops – Kansas (up 14 percent), Missouri (up 17 percent), Oklahoma (up 15 percent) and Texas (up 22 percent).
Twelve of the 15 cotton-producing states reported double digit increases in boll set numbers, led by North Carolina (up 53 percent), California (up 40 percent), Arkansas (up 26 percent), Oklahoma (up 24 percent) and Virginia (up 20 percent).
Overall crop condition remains unchanged in the past week, with 86 percent of the crop still rated fair, good or excellent. Fourteen percent of the crop is rated poor to very poor.
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