The 2017 cotton harvest is underway, including Texas, which is the number one cotton-producing state in the nation. Cotton pickers have begun rolling across southern Texas. Farmers say early yields are good and may actually be higher than yields in 2016. In some areas across southern Texas, early reports say farmers are getting 2.5 bales of cotton on dryland acres.
Texas farmer Charles Ring says he’s done with sorghum and corn harvesting on his operation and their attention is now on cotton. Ring says they’re pulling in 2.5 to 2.75 bales on dryland acres before they start harvesting cotton on their irrigated acres. Crop quality is said to be good even though it hasn’t rained on their fields since it opened. The latest USDA crop condition report this week says the cotton crop is 57 percent good to excellent across American fields.
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting News Service.