Tyson Raper
The 2025 season has been tough. Generally, Tennessee’s cotton acres were extremely wet through the end of June and extremely dry from July through early October. The weather pattern created a very shallow-rooted crop, which had very little ability to extract soil moisture deeper in the profile. As a result, yields are way off; in previous years, we regularly exceeded a state average of 1,050 lbs. per acre.
For 2025, I suspect our average yield for the state may fall below 750 lbs. per acre. This would have been a tough year for us in any market environment, but it is very difficult given the 2025 input prices, interest rates, and commodity prices. All conversations around the crop lately tend to slide into the need for immediate support from the government and long-term change in policy to support the domestic consumption of U.S.-grown cotton.
I still believe I can make a strong argument for cotton in Tennessee, but many will have to approach inputs differently in 2026. This will be a central theme in our production meetings this coming fall. The end of October brought wetter weather, but most in the area will be done harvesting cotton by the end of the first week in November.
traper@utk.edu