Ken Legé
Soil moisture and rainfall are at the focus of everything for the cotton crop in the High Plains of West Texas, and 2025 was no different. A dry winter was followed by very timely planting rains that were accompanied by widespread hailstorms that were more numerous and more severe than normal, even by West Texas standards.
However, our resilient West Texas growers overcame those challenges and established the crop and kept weeds under control really well despite the frequent rain events. Planted acres were generally lower than the five-year average for the region, although some locales planted much more cotton than planned because planting moisture was very good. We await the final FSA certified acres report, but between the acreage reported in early September and the most recent Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation acreage report, standing acreage in the southern High Plains and Panhandle areas was approximately 3.25 million. The Rolling Plains, west central and far west regions have approximately 1.13 million combined acres, making the entire West Texas region total approximately 4.38 million acres of cotton in the field as of early September.
Temperatures, while still above the 114-year average, were rather mild compared to the last 25 years. That, combined with the fairly frequent rainfall throughout most of the region, has given us the highest yield potential since 2021. Heat units continued to accumulate throughout September and October to help mature even the later-planted fields. Harvest aid applications, because of the warm fall, have worked rather well. That said, many growers are currently (as of early November 2025) wishing for a killing freeze to save a little money on desiccation in preparation for harvest.
Boll size is notably larger than we’ve seen in a while, and seed counts per loc are in the six to nine range, which is a dramatic improvement over the 2024 season’s four to six seed per loc. Dryland yields thus far have ranged from a somewhat rare half bale per acre to nearly two bales per acre in some areas. Irrigated yields are better than we’ve seen in quite a while.
While we experienced some rain in mid- to late-October, it was rather light and short-lived. Predominantly dry, sunny conditions have enabled good harvest weather thus far and are delivering some very good color and leaf grades. As of the Oct. 31, 2025, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service Classing Office reports in the region, the Lubbock seasonal average quality (i.e., calculating the loan value based on the averages of each fiber quality parameter) would translate to a loan value of $0.5715/lbs. (167,739 bales); Lamesa averaged a loan value of $0.5705/lbs. (19,106 bales), and the Texas bales classed at the Abilene office averaged a loan value of $0.5540/lbs. (25,440 bales). These averages represent very good fiber quality for the region, especially considering that the first harvested acres in this region are more typically tough dryland acres that we would expect sub-par quality. This was certainly not the case for 2025. Time will tell if this quality trend continues for the remainder of the crop.
According to the failed acreage reported in the early September FSA certified acreage report, early season abandonment was 15% in West Texas, which is quite lower than average. We anticipate late season (after September) abandonment to be lower than average as well. Gins and other related cotton processing and supply industries are celebrating the fact that more bales will be processed, stored, and shipped than in the past few years. The entire West Texas economy is economically dependent on cotton, so we are encouraged by the supply and the quality even though we are discouraged by the price.
For our Texas A&M AgriLife Extension RACE trial results from the southern High Plains and Panhandle areas, see https://lubbock.tamu.edu/programs/crops/cotton/extension-cotton-agronomy/. Follow Ken Lege on Facebook or LinkedIn for timely updates. Buy and wear cotton clothing!
ken.lege@ag.tamu.edu