Posted September 11, 2017

 

By Seshadri Ramkumar

 

LUBBOCK, Texas – Hurricane Harvey has come and gone and the impact Hurricane Irma will have on cotton is yet to be seen.

 

Having caused havoc in the Caribbean, Category 4 Hurricane Irma slammed Florida and moved into Georgia and beyond. What influence it will have on cotton in the Southern cotton growing regions such as Georgia is not clear.

 

Last week in the Lubbock office of Plains Cotton Growers, Inc., with a packed room full of cotton industry stakeholders, people started discussions focusing on the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey on the global cotton sector.

 

“I could handle one storm and not another one in two-week timeframe,” said one cotton merchant.

 

South Texas cotton producers have come back to the fields recently to start picking the cotton. Cotton in the fields has weathered the storm better than expected. Round modules have performed well compared to the conventional ones.

 

While a few gins have been hit hard, the ginning industry is working diligently to resume operations to support the harvest.

 

One positive aspect is that the demand for cotton is strong and China is buying. What matters is what will the industry be able to deliver to China to meet their immediate demands in October and November?

 

The High Plains of Texas is hoped to have higher crop than last year. Weather between now and the harvest will influence how big the difference is going to be compared to last year’s crop. High Plains harvested about 5.118 million bales last year, which was the highest for the region in past five years.

 

Referring to national forecast from NOAA for next few weeks, Steve Verett, executive vice president of Plains Cotton Growers, said he was optimistic about the weather that could deliver a good crop. Forecasts show temperature above normal, with below-normal precipitation, which should enable good maturity.

 

Intermediate to long-term forecasts are favorable from a yield standpoint from the High Plains, according to Shawn Wade, director of Policy Analysis and Research at Plains Cotton Growers.

 

With the United States expected to export about 14.9 million bales, quality is the driver.

 

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