Crop Progress Notes for U.S. Cotton – September 23

By Jim Steadman|September 24, 2019

More open bolls and more movement in harvested acres highlight the USDA Crop Progress report for cotton for the week ending September 22.

The percentage of open bolls jumped 10%, with 64% of the U.S. crop now open. That’s still 7% ahead of the 5-year average for the Cotton Belt for this date, with nine states now ahead of their respective 5-year averages.

This week’s report also shows that 11% of U.S. cotton acres have been harvested – up 2% in the past week. Louisiana growers lead the way with 19% of their crop harvested, followed by Texas (16%) and Arizona, Arkansas and Georgia all at 10%. First reports of harvest activity also came this week from Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Again, slight shifts in overall crop condition in the past week, with 39% of the crop rated good/excellent (down 2%), 42% rated fair (unchanged) and 19% rated poor/very poor (a 2% drop).