NASS ADJUSTS TEXAS HIGH PLAINS
COTTON PRODUCTION ESTIMATE FOR 2019 CROP
Friday, September 13, 2019
By Mary Jane Buerkle
The National Agricultural Statistics Service projects that Texas High
Plains area growers will produce 4.65 million bales of upland cotton in
2019, an 18 percent increase from 2018 and above the area’s overall
average.
The September 12 NASS estimate is a 280,000-bale decrease from their
August estimate of 4.93 million for the High Plains. The Northern High
Plains estimate decreased from 1.385 million bales in August to 1.175
million bales in September. NASS decreased slightly their estimate for the
Southern High Plains from 3.545 million bales in August to 3.475 million in
September.
Yield per acre decreased for the Northern High Plains, from 831 to 742
pounds. The Southern High Plains increased very slightly from 601 pounds
in August to 602 in September.
The Northern High Plains is projected to harvest 760,000 acres, down
58,000 acres from the August report. Planted acres in the north also were
adjusted slightly downward to 1.255 million acres. The Southern High
Plains is expected to harvest 2.77 million acres, down slightly from 2.83
million in the August report. Abandonment rate for the High Plains region
is projected to be at about 17 percent. The long-term average is between
18 and 20 percent.
Statewide, the production number decreased slightly to 8 million bales.
The nationwide estimate for upland cotton production is 21.1 million
bales, down 3 percent from August but up 20 percent from 2018.
