As June began, cotton planting was most active in Tennessee, where warm temperatures and sunny skies provided nearly a week of days suitable for fieldwork. By June 5, producers had planted 87 percent of the nation’s crop, 3 percentage points behind last year but on par with the 5‐year average, USDA says in latest production estimate report on July 13.
In Texas, producers planted dryland fields in the Plains to meet insurance deadlines. While warm temperatures promoted rapid square development in Arizona, Louisiana, and Virginia mid‐month, hot, windy weather coupled with mostly short to very short soil moisture levels damaged portions of the cotton crop in the High Plains of Texas.
Nationally, 21 percent of the crop was at or beyond the squaring stage by June 19, five percentage points behind last year and 4 percentage points behind the 5‐year average.
Above average temperatures continued across the South throughout much of June, aiding rapid crop development in many cotton‐producing states. Bolls were setting on 9 percent of the country’s cotton acreage by June 26, two percentage points ahead of last year but on par with the 5‐year average. Conversely, poor seed germination and emergence of dryland cotton in areas of the Texas Plains left crop development behind normal. By July 3, squaring was 49 percent complete, 13 percentage points behind last year and 6 percentage points behind the 5‐year average. Overall, 28 percent cotton crop was reported in good to excellent condition on July 3, compared with 28 percent on June 12 and 65 percent from the same time last year.