By Don Shurley, University of Georgia Cotton Economist
Weather wise, the month of May has not been kind. The US cotton production area has experienced extremes in weather. New crop futures prices have seen a bit of a bounce but nothing to say we’re on the road to “recovery” yet.
The Southeast is in a moderate drought with the non-irrigated crop being hammered by a combination of well below normal rainfall and record high temperatures. The entire “Coastal Plain” area from southeast Alabama and the Florida panhandle through south and east Georgia through the Carolinas and Virginia is extremely dry with May rainfall well below normal.
Dry conditions extend into west Tennessee while most areas of the Midsouth have received heavy rainfall. Rainfall has been mostly above normal for most portions of Texas and Oklahoma.
So, over the past 30 days, we have had near drought conditions in some parts of the US cotton area but much above normal rainfall in other areas. As of May 26, Georgia is ahead of average in planting but producers are going into dry conditions and the crop will need moisture soon for a good start.
The Midsouth is well behind normal due to abundant rainfall and planting delays (Arkansas and Louisiana—8 to 13 points behind; Mississippi and Missouri—21 to 37 points behind).