Texas valley cotton classed as ginning expanded. Vigilance for bollworms advised on Plains. Timely rain enhanced boll development in Georgia. Good crop progress reported in Delta. Yuma crop neared cutout. Smoke caused low air quality in San Joaquin Valley.
Cotton futures meandered to slight closing losses of three to 20 points in traded contracts on light volume Monday, completing an inside-range day.
December settled down 13 points to 68.29 cents, just below the middle of its 106-point range from up 48 points at 68.90 to down 58 points at 67.84 cents. March closed off six points at 68.05 cents, also just below the midpoint of its 105-point range from 68.60 to 67.55 cents.
Volume slowed to an estimated 13,251 lots from 22,905 lots the previous session when spreads accounted for 7,745 lots or 33.8%. Options volume slipped to 1,873 lots (475 calls and 1,398 puts) from 2,718 lots (1,492 calls and 1,226 puts).
Ginning expanded last week in the Texas Rio Grande Valley to keep pace with the accumulation of modules on gin yards, USDAΆs Agricultural Marketing Service reported in a cotton review.
The Corpus Christi classing office had graded 16,735 running bales for the season through Thursday, 83.1% of which met tenderable requirements. The USDA facility classed an additional 3,839 RB on Friday.
Defoliants were applied elsewhere in South Texas and bolls were popping open. In the southern Blackland Prairies, some fields had reached cutout amid dry conditions, local reports indicated. Rains continued to the north and some fields had begun to bloom.
The crop advanced in the High Plains following earlier rainstorms, hailstorms and windstorms. Cotton development varied from newly emerged to early blooms. Stray thunderstorms brought additional rainfall to some areas. Lubbock got about 1-1/3 inches, boosting some stands.
A Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service entomologist advised producers on the Plains to remain vigilant for bollworms.
“I havenΆt come across any significant bollworm activity in the region yet,” said Suhas Vyavhar of Lubbock. “But blooming cotton coupled with new growth following recent rains . . . makes for an especially enticing combination for bollworm moths seeking egg-laying sites.”
The warning was prompted by reports of the pest breaking Bt shields in South Texas and elsewhere in the Cotton Belt. Vivavhare said treatable levels of bollworms, also called headworms when they affect sorghum, have been spotted in some High Plains sorghum fields.
Overall, the entomologist said, insect pest pressure on cotton remained light across the region.
Elsewhere, the crop advanced in the Southeast, AMS said. In Georgia, fields were blooming and timely rain enhanced boll development and relieved heat-stressed crops. Some fields were treated for stink bugs. Whiteflies were noted in Central Georgia but werenΆt at treatable levels. A few reports noted escaped corn earworm larvae in Bt cotton.
Similar conditions prevailed in the Carolinas. Thunderstorms brought 2 to 3 inches of accumulated rainfall to eastern and coastal areas. Blooming was widespread and producers were making initial applications of insecticides to control bollworms.
The crop made good progress in the North Delta under mostly clear and hot conditions. Producers were irrigating and monitored for insect pests, particularly plant bugs and bollworms. Some isolated areas got as much as an inch of rain in the South Delta, while most producers also were irrigating. Insect pressure was building and hotspots were treated.
In the Desert Southwest, cotton quickly approached cutout around Yuma, Ariz. In the San Joaquin Valley, smoke and falling ash from wildfires in surrounding areas caused low air quality. Yields remained a concern as some fields sustained pest damage to lower bolls, sources said.
Futures open interest declined 1,484 lots to 215,981 on Friday, with DecemberΆs down 2,474 lots to 160,228 and MarchΆs up 1,185 lots to 37,940. Decertification of 2,813 bales dropped cert stocks to 43,716 bales.
