Final figures on Arizona’s 2009 cotton crop indicate the area planted to upland varieties totaled 145,000 acres with 144,000 acres harvested, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service’s (NASS) Phoenix, Ariz., Field Office.

The average yield per acre was a record high 1,477 pounds per acre, surpassing the previous record high yield of 1,469 pounds established in 2007, NASS reports. Production totaled 443,000 bales, 9 percent more than last year.

Pima cotton was planted and harvested from 1,600 acres last year. Final Pima production totaled 3,900 bales, an increase of 3,100 bales from 2008.

Total cottonseed production was estimated at 161,400 tons, up 15 percent from 2008.

In its first production forecast of the 2010 season, NASS forecasts the Arizona Durum wheat crop at 7.9 million bushels, down 36 percent from the 2009 crop.

Area for harvest is estimated at 79,000 acres, 45,000 fewer acres than a year ago. The yield is expected to average 100 bushels per acre.