Producers in the PCG service area have been busy the past few weeks trying to wrap up planting their crops prior to the crop insurance deadlines in their respective areas. With final planting dates and late planting periods now mostly passed, cotton planting is virtually complete, and growers are now shifting their focus to irrigation and weed control activities.
According to the USDA Crop Progress report from June 20, 2021, planting of the U.S. cotton crop is essentially finished. The report revealed that 96% of the U.S. crop is now planted, which is up by 6% from the previous week and 1% above the 5-year average for mid-June. Cotton stages around the PCG service area range from seedling to early square, with some growers reporting cotton at 5-6 leaf. While there haven’t been any reported, IPM agents and researchers continue to monitor for pests or diseases in the area. Regionally, growers and industry segments continue to speculate how many acres have been planted to cotton versus other crops in Texas, especially in the High Plains production region.
As growers now pivot from planting to weed control, many are concerned about the availability of crop protection chemicals and whether they will be able to have access to the products needed to finish out this growing season based on current supply. When discussing the situation with chemical providers, most of the current shortfalls can be traced back to the impact of the global shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic as many of the key ingredients for crop protection chemicals are made a year in advance overseas. It seems that supply chain disruptions brought on by the pandemic over the last year have put a damper on those ingredients being produced and shipped in a timely manner. As an industry, we are feeling the spiraling effect of that disruption with limited supplies of important herbicide and pesticide products.
On the weather front, according to the National Weather Service, cooler temperatures and chances of timely rains are forecasted across portions of the PCG service area throughout the weekend and the end of June.
The market has held steady over this past week with prices staying in the mid-80s and December 2021 futures trading at 87.11 cents at press time. The Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS) reported this week that cotton’s export sales were 74,670 running bales during the week that ended June 17. That was down 33% from week-to-week and 24% below the same week last season. Sales to China made up 19% of the total business for the week. Despite the week-to-week export sales decline, accumulated exports remain at record pace with 13.4 million running bales shipped through June 17.