Pre-Harvest Review: How Fiber Quality Properties Are Rated

By Cotton Grower Staff|September 4, 2025

With cotton harvest underway or on the horizon, the importance of fiber quality becomes a key component of yield. Make no mistake: yield remains the primary measurement of a cotton growing season. But with prices lingering in the mid-to-high 60-cent range, favorable fiber quality can add a few extra cents to a grower’s bottom line.

As a quick review, here’s a look at Cotton Incorporated’s legend of how to interpret fiber property ratings for upper half mean length, fiber elongation, uniformity, fiber fineness, fiber maturity ratio and fiber strength for the fiber chart data.

Upper Half Mean Length
Below 0.99	Short
0.99-1.10	Medium
1.11-1.26	Long
Above 1.26	Extra Long

Fiber Elongation (%)
Below 5.0	Very Low
5.0-5.8	Low
5.9-6.7	Average
6.8-7.6	High
Above 7.6	Very High

Uniformity Index
Below 77	Very Low
77-79	Low
80-82	Average
83-85	High
Above 85	Very High
Length Uniformity Index (LUI) = 100 x Mean Length Upper Half Mean Length