Boll Set Shows Dramatic Increase in Past Week, Reports USDA

By Jim.Robinson|August 12, 2013

The U.S. cotton crop showed a 20 percent jump in boll set over the past week, according to the August 11 USDA Crop Progress Report. But overall crop conditions continue to deteriorate, especially in the Southeast and Southwest.

According to the report, boll set in the top 15 cotton-producing states is now at 73 percent – only eight percent behind the four-year average for this date. As in past weeks, the number underscores the lateness of this year’s crop, which is running two-to-three weeks behind in most states.

Twenty-five percent of the crop is rated poor-to-very poor this week, with the greatest potential for loss coming from Texas (36 percent) and Oklahoma (30 percent). The unseasonably wet conditions to date in the Southeast are also impacting the quality of the crop in Georgia and the Carolinas.

On average, only nine percent of the country’s crop is rated as excellent.