Posted May12, 2015
By Seshadri Ramkumar
LUBBOCK, Texas – The High Plains region in Texas is the beneficiary of the El Nino weather pattern, which is promising news for this year’s cotton crop.
Justin Weaver, meteorologist-in-charge of the National Weather Service here, spoke recently at the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce Agriculture meeting on the weather pattern for the cotton-planting season this year. His talk came right after good spells of rain last Monday and Tuesday night that witnessed a downpour equal to all of rainfall of 2011 in one night. Commenting on the recent rainfall, “happy ag folks around here,” he said.
El Nino, which is the warming of the surface water in eastern and central Pacific Ocean, will result in good chance of above normal precipitation this planting season and fall this year. Rainfall, coupled with low temperature, will be beneficial for the cotton crop. According to Weaver, the probability of experiencing extreme hot summer is low unlike 2011 when there was a continuous spell of 30 days of summer with temperature above 100 degree Fahrenheit.
The Lubbock and High Plains region in the past week had witnessed over an inch of rainfall with some places reaching as high as 10 inches. Lubbock and the surrounding cotton growing areas are witnessing showers, which have made most of the High Plains to be out of drought condition. Today, only 16 percent of Texas is in drought situation, while California is witnessing severe drought, said Weaver.
Shawn Wade, director of Policy Analysis and Research at Lubbock-based Plains Cotton Growers, Inc., said that this weather, which is due to El Nino, will be beneficial for cotton in 2015. Since producers have to plant in High Plains by early June, the wet weather might be a concern in some places.
Commenting on this aspect Wade said, “Rains have been beneficial for many areas in high plains and hopefully it will be dried between now and the end of planting period in early June.”
The rainfall is helping with the soil moisture and it is hoped by the producer community in High Plains that this year’s crop will be off to a good start, although it is too early to estimate the total crop and its quality. Depending on the crop being planted in a timely manner and having good weather condition throughout the season, Texas is expected to have more than half of planted acres in the United States. According to Wade, High Plains, the largest cotton producing region in the United States, could have about one third of planted acres in the United States.
Overall the El Nino weather pattern seems to bring positive mood to the cotton producers in the High Plains of Texas. This is a favorable situation for cotton production in the United States.
Dr. Seshadri Ramkumar is professor of Countermeasures to Chemical and Biological Threats, Nonwovens & Advanced Materials at Texas Tech.