If you're a cotton producer and your farm is in Texas, then you probably know that cotton is king in the Lone Star State, and has been for a long time. On average, Texas produces about five million acres of cotton each year. That's about one-half of all the cotton acres in the United States.

It's no surprise that Texas tops the nation in cotton production. Cotton is the leading cash crop in the state each year, generating about $2.2 billion in crop value last year. The over-all economic impact from cotton and the many products it creates has been estimated to be as high as $24 billion annually.

While the history and significance of cotton in Texas is fairly well known, especially among old timers and rural folk, it is surprising how much we can forget so quickly.

Jason P. Ott, county Extension agent for the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service in Nueces County, in a published report this week, put the spotlight on Texas cotton, especially in Nueces County and the Texas Coastal Bend.

While early cotton harvest in South Texas has kept ginners hustling to keep up, it marks only the beginning of what is expected to be a robust year for yield and quality.

HARVEST WINDING DOWN

"With around 80-percent of over 130 thousand acres [in Nueces County] planted to cotton and already harvested, many growers have [reported]cotton yields in the three bales per acre range in certain fields and some at or near four bales an acre," Ott said.

Related:Texas crop year slowly heads to season's end

The value of agricultural income in Nueces County was estimated to be about $150 million last year—nearly half from cotton production.  

"The strong cotton yields should help offset the slump in prices currently being paid for cotton and grain. Budgets prepared by Extension economists estimate growers will spend around $623 per acre to grow a cotton crop and projected a return of around $22 per acre over those costs," Ott noted.

While Nueces County and neighboring San Patricio County are both ranked in the top 12 of the 120 Texas counties that produce cotton annually, cotton production across Texas stretches far and wide. The top twelve counties include Lubbock, Crosby, Hale, Lynn, Hockley, Floyd, Terry, Dawson, Gaines, Lamb, San Patricio, and Nueces. Production regions include the High Plains, the Rolling Plains, the Blacklands, the Coastal Bend and Upper Coast region, the Lower Rio Grande Valley, and Far West Texas.

According to Texas AgriLife Extension, from the High Plains to the Lower Rio Grande Valley, each region differs vastly in the approaches to cotton production due to variations in climate, soil type, percentage of the crop that is irrigated, pests, and harvest techniques. 

In June, USDA estimated cotton planted acres for 2016 at about 5.65 million acres. American Pima acres in Far West Texas were estimated at 252,000 acres, up 30 percent from 2015. While actual cotton production estimates for this year are difficult to calculate this early in the harvest process, many agree that total production could exceed 5.4 million acres of harvested fiber this year Overall, cotton production, including fiber, seed and oil, should benefit the Texas economy this year to the tune of $2.8 billion.

CONNECTING TO KING COTTON IN TEXAS

If you're a Texan, even if you don't farm cotton, it's still a viable part of our collective history. At one point during the U.S. Civil War, for example, more cotton was shipped through Texas to ports around the world than from any other point of origin.

Here are a few other "cotton facts" you may not know or have forgotten, compliments of Jason Ott:

The remaining one-third or so of the round module is lint, the ginned cotton fiber. Once ginned, lint is baled and sent to textile mills to be turned into fabric and yarn. A ginned cotton bale weighs around 480 pounds.