As harvest season approaches, local cotton farmers said they are experiencing delays because of recent thunderstorms harming their crops.

“You grow a crop all year and then get out here in the very end and have it and have it hailed on, and that’s a hard pill to swallow,” TKT Farms Partner Rex Kennedy said.

Kennedy added that their crops were not significantly impacted from recent storms but the heavy rain did cause theirs cotton to go through re-growth, slowing down the maturing process.

“Any farmer hates to run away rain but the truth is during harvest from right now until we get done with harvest we would just assume it stay dry,” Kennedy said.

Surrounding cotton farmers, from Littlefield and Slaton, told EverythingLubbock.com that severe weather has hit them hard and pushed back their expected harvest time.

Kennedy said when their crops are compromised, it costs them more resources and expenses to make up for the loss in an industry that’s already transitioning to smaller margins.

“You put everything on the line once a year to get a cotton crop going and you get down to the end and you do better than average and you’re still not really making ends meet,” Kennedy said. “We’ve got to do something about that.”
 
Local farmers, including Kennedy, said that if the clear skies and warm weather continues, then they’ll be on track to start preparing the cotton soon and begin harvest by mid-October.
 
“Whenever cotton gets 60% open or more that we start trying to get chemical on it to get it prepared for harvest,” Kennedy said.
 
However, if rain or harsh weather were to touch the cotton after it bloomed, Plains Cotton Grower Inc. Director of Policy Analysis and Research Shawn Wade said it’s important to collect the crop because it could be promised and not retain it’s truest white color.
 
“How those plants are progressing and bow those bowls are opening up the plant,” Wade said. “When they get to a certain point, then that’s when we’ll start looking at harvest aid treatment. Because we know when these bowls crack, these bowls are basically done.”
 
Get more information about local cotton crops on Plains Cotton Grower’s website here.