Coming into the 2023 harvest season, West Texans were hopeful for better conditions and fortune yet another harvest season is close to wrapping up and cotton crop has shown to be disappointing to say the least.
For producers, the growing season started out extremely dry similar to last season and the reliance on rain proved detrimental for many as showers came late and not often. Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Agent Kerry Siders explained that the main difference from the 2022 season was that farmers lost acres early last season before heading into July.
At the point in time, this years harvest is about 90% complete.
Siders believes that if the area had experienced a handful of good rain storms in July heading into August, the results would have been completely different in both dry-land and irrigated cotton.
“Unfortunately a majority of the dry-land cotton has failed out, but there are some areas and parts that were harvested,” said Siders. “I’d say 70% to 75% of our dryland cotton has failed out and the remaining portion was harvested.”
With what was able to be harvested, Siders classifies it as “low-yield” cotton which varies around the 150-200 pound range which is worth stripping, but is by no means the best.
In regard to the irrigated portion of cotton, Siders explained that is has varied greatly across the board, but leans more toward below average on yield compared to historic average.
“I would say about five percent or less of the cotton harvested did slightly better than average in the three bale range close to 1,500 pounds,” said Siders. “A majority of the acres are 15% or below what they are used to producing in yield.”
While the area did receive rain in May and June, the showers were a bit deceiving according to Siders. That rainfall was crucial, however producers went into this farming season with little to no subsoil moisture. “We went into the growing season in April and May with no moisture and it was extremely dry,” explained Siders. “Coming off a dry 2022 season, we did not have a lot of soil moisture carry over into this year. Whatever rain we did receive in the Spring did not go very far into the Summer and it is very difficult to irrigate through those hot and dry periods.”
Siders also added that the area’s irrigation supplements rainfall, not the other way around. While that was not the case 30years ago, that is the current state of things.
The West Texas area is critical for cotton production. USDA shows Texas growers produce 42% of the country’s cotton. The area surrounding area is known as the largest cotton patch in the U.S. and the majority of the cotton crop currently seeing extreme drought conditions is in that key cotton production area.
Last year, three out of four cotton acres in Texas were not harvested. The market reached $1.50 per pound in May and June before falling 50 cents and then rising again to around $1.15 per pound by late summer. Yet, when the 2022 crop production was clearer, prices settled down in the 80-cent per pound range.
“It’s been a tough year and it is not finishing very well,” said Siders. “There were very few bright spots in terms of good yielded cotton. We carried quite a few acres through the summer and were optimistic but it was disappointing.”
Moving forward, producers are hopeful for moisture in the winter and early fall as they prepare for the next season.
Siders added that while down years come in any occupation, producers have no other choice than to be optimistic and ready to work for the upcoming year.