Crop Progress: Cotton Planting Storms Ahead

By Cotton Grower Staff|May 15, 2023

And we don’t mean rain storms – although cotton growers welcomed a few timely, well placed rain events in the past week. Regardless of your state, it was an impressive week for planting.

The USDA Crop Progress report for the week ending May 14 shows that 35% of the U.S. crop has now been planted – up 13 percentage points in the past week and just a tick shy of the 5-year average for this date.

Planters were rolling with urgency, resulting in some big jumps in acreage covered. In the past week, Kansas showed a 32-point increase, up to 35%. Other big movers included Missouri (up 29 points to 69%), Louisiana (up 27 points to 67%), Tennessee (also up 27 points to 42%), Arkansas (up 26 points to 56%), and Alabama (up 21 points to 51%).

All cotton producing states are now in double digit percentages for planting, ranging from 16% in Oklahoma to 90% for California. In all, eight states are currently on or above their respective 5-year planting averages for mid-May.