Across the southeast, two-thirds of the cotton bolls are open which is on track with the five year average, but only 43 percent of the crop is in good-to-excellent condition.
USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey says that weather is something to watch as harvest season approaches.
Louisiana currently leads the nation in cotton harvest at 23 percent. “But even there it is 10 points behind the five year average as harvest same to a virtual stand still during the rain event,” Rippey notes. “We are also seeing significant harvest delays in some other states that have been affected not only by Beta last week but Hurricane Sally the week before.”
Trailing Louisiana in progress this year is Texas at 22 percent, Arizona at 16 percent, Mississippi at 10 percent, and Arkansas has 6 percent of the crop out of the field.
Crop quality concerns arise from the aftermath of Tropical Storm Beta.
Hurricane Sally’s impact on Alabama ag.