Cotton Update

Sprouted Cotton in Wharton County on August 19
Photo: Kate Harrell

Sprouted Cotton Drying Down in Wharton County on August 23
Photo: Kate Harrell

   Most of the cotton still in the fields in Wharton, Jackson and Matagorda counties has gotten to look like the above pictures. I know many of you have been concerned about what will happen with ginning if we can get it picked. I am hoping that as long as this stuff dries down the seed coat will harden, cotyledons will wither and fall off, and we will not have too much trouble ginning. Hill county was having similar problems with their cotton, and instead of a defoliation trial, they were able to borrow a table-top gin and run some of the samples. The table-top gin has no lint cleaners and no heat, so in theory this would be a worst case scenario.

  Dr. Gaylon Morgan shared this information with the pictures below. "The central Blacklands has been fortunate to have some drying weather that desiccated the germinating cotyledons fairly quickly. So, I realize the Upper Gulf Coast has not been as fortunate and problems will likely be worse than the Blacklands. However, seeing some pictures of how bad looking cotton on the plant may not turn out to be as bad as one may think, once ginned. I am not trying to downplay the situation, because it is serious for those affected and every dollar is important. There is no doubt that seed quality and money has been lost and some lint staining that will cause some discounts. We will just have to wait and see what the extent of damage actually is moving forward."

Seed After Ginning in Hill County
Photo: Zach Davis and Ryan Janek

Seed After Ginning in Hill County
Photo: Zach Davis and Ryan Janek

Cotton Before Ginning in Hill County
Photo: Zach Davis and Ryan Janek

Cotton After Ginning in Hill County
Photo: Zach Davis and Ryan Janek

Cotton Before Ginning in Hill County
Photo: Zach Davis and Ryan Janek

Cotton After Ginning in Hill County
Photo: Zach Davis and Ryan Janek

Cotton Before Ginning in Hill County
Photo: Zach Davis and Ryan Janek

Cotton After Ginning in Hill County
Photo: Zach Davis and Ryan Janek

  I hope this information and the pictures put some of your minds more at ease. I realize this is very little, but I will let you know when we learn more about this. If you have questions, feel free to contact us at the Wharton County office.

Sincerely,

Kate Harrell