Posted September 6, 2017

 

By Seshadri Ramkumar

 

LUBBOCK, Texas – All eyes have been on Texas since Hurricane Harvey hit Southeast Texas.

 

Major industrial sectors in Texas such as cotton, oil refinery and transportation have been hard hit by the natural disaster. The loss to lives and properties have been huge, with damages are in billions.  Harvey has put Texas in the living rooms of many living some 10,000 miles away.

 

Cotton fields in South Texas have been flooded with harvested modules damaged. This would, of course, impact ginning and the quality of the harvested crop. While Harvey was about to make landfall, cotton industry people met in the Plains Cotton Growers’ office here. Discussions centered on Harvey’s potential impact and cotton production this year. Industry leaders and participants at the meeting had South Texas cotton industry in their minds and were hoping for the best. 

 

While touring Lubbock last week, Dr. Kater Hake, vice president, Agricultural and Environmental Research at Cary, N.C.-based Cotton Incorporated showed this scribe some pictures of damages to the cotton fields in South Texas, which he has received, that showcased damages to modules sitting in water flooded fields.

 

This year’s crop in South Texas has been mostly harvested, with tremendous yields as high as 3.5 to 4 bales in some fields. It is the cotton from this region that gets exported first every year. Mother Nature’s havoc would certainly influence ginning and the export of cotton from the Belt that was hard hit by Harvey. This has also influenced the market, but over the long run fundamentals will set the price right.

 

Turing attention to the High Plains, the epicenter of cotton activities, away from the Harvey zone, weather has been pleasant. The mood is upbeat about this year’s cotton and there will be a lot of cotton. High Plains’ crop is looking good with less insect pressure. Weed issues have been well controlled. “Tremendously clean fields,” said Peter Dotray, professor of Weed Science in Lubbock.

 

Given the congenial weather so far, there is expected to be a bumper crop in Texas. Hopes are high such that expectations for Texas’ crop will be about 9.5 million bales, with the High Plains contributing as high as 5.75 million bales. These expectations are higher than the latest projections from USDA, which were 8.8 million bales from Texas and about 5.2 million bales from High Plains.

 

“I am optimistic about good crop this year coming along,” said Hake while touring Lubbock region. A similar optimistic picture is also prevalent in India, with regard to its cotton crop this season.

 

“It all depends upon good warm weather between now and the September to October timeframe,” said Shawn Wade of Plains Cotton Growers, Inc.

 

Dr. Seshadri Ramkumar, Ph.D, FTA (honorary), is a professor at the Nonwovens & Advanced Materials Laboratory at Texas Tech.

Cotton update from West Texas provided after Hurricane Harvey