Crop Progress: Cotton Planting Continues at Brisk Pace

By Jim Steadman|May 23, 2022

Cotton growers continue to make strong strides in planting the 2022 U.S. cotton crop. According to USDA’s Crop Progress report for the week ending May 22, 54% of the nation’s cotton crop has now been planted – up 17 percentage points in the past week and 3 percentage points ahead of the 5-year average for this week.

Double-digit percentage increases in planting were reported in 13 of the country’s 15 cotton-producing states, led by Missouri (up 38 percentage points), Kansas and Tennessee (both up 29 points), Mississippi (up 26 points), Arkansas and North Carolina (both up 21 points), and Alabama, Georgia, and Virginia (all up 20 points).

In all, 12 states are currently equal to or ahead of their respective 5-year averages for the date.

Planting percentages for other key commodities also showed significant increases in the past week: corn at 72% (up 23 points), soybeans at 50% (up 20 points), rice at 91% (up 11 points), sorghum at 33% (up 7 points) and peanuts at 65% (up 18 points).