California cotton acreage could be at its highest in several years, according to a recent survey by the state Pink Bollworm Program.

At nearly 292,000 acres, cotton acreage will be up about 33 percent from 2016 plantings.

Roger Isom, president of the California Cotton Growers association, says it’s too early to know the breakdown between Pima and Upland varieties, though he expects Pima at about 75 percent of the acreage planted. Isom says the late announcement on federal water deliveries likely had an impact on Pima acreage as planting decisions needed to be made before the water announcements were made.

California harvested almost 219,000 acres of cotton last year.

Kings County, Calif. is projected to have more than a third of the state’s cotton crop at nearly 109,000 acres. Fresno County shows almost 76,000 acres of cotton in the ground with Merced County at almost 46,000 acres of cotton planted based on the survey.

About 8,500 acres of cotton was planted this year in the desert regions of Imperial and Riverside counties.

Arizona

As of late-June, Arizona had 166,000-plus acres of planted cotton, according to Leighton Liesner, director, Arizona Cotton Research and Protection Council. This is a 22 percent increase over last year’s plantings.

More than 90 percent of Arizona’s cotton plantings are Upland varieties.