Even with a lot of challenges, South Plains cotton farmers are seeing better than expected yields as they move through harvest season.

“Pleasantly surprised.”

That’s how Mark Kelley, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service cotton specialist, Lubbock, describes cotton producers’ reactions as yield and quality reports roll in.

Despite an “unusual” season with a late start, untimely dry weather and more than a few hail and wind damage events, many producers are seeing good yields and generally high quality, Kelley said.

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Though some factors, such as bark content, have been a little high, and the total crop for the area is below the 10-year average, most producers are happy, he said. And the harvest, though still somewhat late, has been helped along by hard freezes and harvest friendly weather.

“We’re getting a lot of cotton out of the fields these days,” he said. “There’s a lot of cotton still to go, but we’re getting it done pretty fast.”

Kelley estimated harvest to be about 60 percent finished.

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