Gusty winds hampered harvesting and ginning in the West Texas Plains early in the latest reporting period. Gins worked on an abundance of module backlogs in Kansas and Oklahoma. Harvest neared completion in the Southeast. Drought improved to mostly moderate in the Delta.
Cotton futures chopped on both sides of unchanged and finished marginally lower in a continuation of light trading Tuesday.
March eased 13 points to close at 69.74 cents, in the lower third of its tight 72-point range from up 37 points at 70.24 to down 35 points to a three-session low at 69.52 cents. Strength in soybeans and grains and gains in outside markets may have offered support for cotton.
May settled down 10 points to 70.17 cents, while December 2017 closed down 11 points to 68.86 cents.
Volume was an estimated 11,556 lots, compared with 10,470 lots the previous session when spreads accounted for 3,657 lots or 35%, EFP 149 lots and EFS 139 lots. Options volume totaled 853 calls and 1,435 puts.
Gusty winds up to 50 miles per hour hampered harvesting and ginning in the West Texas Plains early in the reporting week ended Thursday, USDAΆs Agricultural Marketing Service said in a weekly cotton review.
Wintry precipitation fell in some areas but wasnΆt significant. Volatile temperatures ranged from record highs in the upper 70s to record lows in the single digits. Wind chills were around zero to below.
Near-normal temperatures returned midweek and fieldwork again became active. Ginners scaled back operations during periods of high winds because of the increased potential for fire hazards, but ginning overall made good progress.
Other reports indicated only a few fields remained to be stripped at midweek in Lubbock County. Producers who had finished were helping neighbors. Harvesting was estimated from 80%-plus to 95% completed in several western counties and 85% to 90%-plus in some southern areas.
Sunny skies and high temperatures in the mid-60s favored fieldwork Tuesday in the Lubbock area. Unseasonably warm temperatures in the mid-70s are expected Wednesday ahead of a strong cold front forecast to drop highs into the high 40s Thursday and Friday. A slight chance of showers is seen for Saturday with high temperatures returning to the mid-60s.
Producers in the Texas Rio Grande Valley prepared fields for sorghum and cotton planting. Sorghum typically is planted the last week of January and cotton generally is planted in March. Conditions remained dry. In eastern Texas, below-average temperatures and some rain interfered with harvesting the remaining fields.
Elsewhere, snowfall delayed harvesting in Kansas and Oklahoma, estimated at 85% and 90% completed, respectively. Most gins were busy processing an abundant backlog of modules on gin yards. Local reports indicated an expected increase of 25% to 30% in planted area next year.
In the Southeast, harvesting neared completion after widespread showers brought light, scattered rainfall to most areas. Pressing continued uninterrupted in Alabama and Georgia as gins processed backlogs of modules. Several gins had finished for the season.
Wet conditions delayed picking the few remaining fields in the Carolinas and Virginia. A few gins had gone to gin days or continued daily operations, but ginning was mostly completed.
Ginning also was rapidly drawing to a close in the Delta. Drought conditions improved for most of the region to mostly moderate, though rainfall deficits of 10 to 20 inches remained in parts of the South Delta.
In the Far West, merchants were busy preparing paperwork for producer deferred payments into the New Year. Ginning continued.
Futures open interest edged up 180 lots Friday to 245,056, with MarchΆs down 305 lots to 165,012 and MayΆs up 147 lots to 41,315. Cert stocks grew 79 bales to 40,562. There were nine newly certified bales and 88 bales decertified.
