Crop Progress Notes from July 22

By Jim Steadman|July 23, 2019

It appears that any concerns about a negative impact from Hurricane/Tropical Storm/Tropical Depression Barry on the cotton crop throughout the Mid-South and eastern Texas were – like the storm – overblown.

In fact, based on USDA’s Crop Progress report for the week ending July 21, rains from the storm – in general – may have helped get this year’s crop back on schedule in most states.

According to the report, squaring is now present in 78% of the U.S. crop – just two percentage points behind the 5-year average for this date. That’s an 18% increase in the past week…and a 31% jump in the past two weeks. In all, eight states – Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Virginia – are running on or ahead of average.

Boll set is now reported in 33% of the U.S. crop – a 13% increase in the past week and only four percentage points behind the 5-year average. The report shows that six states – Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia – are currently ahead of average.

Crop condition also continues to improve week over week in July. The U.S. crop is now rated 60% good/excellent, 30% fair and only 10% poor/very poor (down from 19% on July 7).