San Angelo Cotton Yield, Profits Rise in 2016

SAN ANGELO, TX- In 2016, San Angelo's gross revenue for cotton yields valued in at $65.5 million, which is $24.7 million higher than 2015, and good news for area cotton farmers.

San Angelo is located in the Rolling Plains cotton production region in Texas. The Rolling Plains region “extends from Hall and Childress counties in the north, to Schleicher to Mason counties in the south, and Eastland County to the east,” explained the Texas A&M Agrilife Extension website (TAMAE).

For the Rolling Plains area, cotton, wheat, grain sorghum and hay are the predominant crops farmed. The TAMAE website reported that approximately 21 inches of rain falls per year; most of that rain fall occurs between May to October.

In the Rolling Plains, the TAMAE website explained that about 85 percent of the cotton in the area is dry land.

Overall, the cotton season includes mid-May to mid-June for planting, and October through December for harvesting.

In Tom Green County alone, there is an estimated 89,007 acres for cotton production. On the TAMAE website, it stated that irrigated yields average 750 to 1,300 pounds of lint per acre, depending on climate and irrigation capacity. The dry lands yield an average 650 pounds of lint an acre.

Bill Thompson, Assistant Professor and Extension Economist with TAMAE said, “We are estimating an overall average yield on 949 pounds of lint per acre.”

Thompson added that this is a blended average between irrigated and non-irrigated production.

Thompson also explained that the profit made includes the cotton lint and the value of the produced cotton seed.

Gross revenue figures for the past four years are as follows:

• 2016: $65.5 million
• 2015: $40.8 million
• 2014: $55.5 million
• 2013: $44.0 million