Where and when cotton grows
US cotton is planted from April to June and harvested from August to December. Texas grows the largest share, much of it dryland cotton in West Texas, where drought can lead farmers to abandon fields before harvest.
Brazil's cotton is mostly a second crop in Mato Grosso and Bahia, planted after soybeans and harvested from June to September. India's crop depends on the June–September monsoon and is harvested from October.
Reports that move the market
- USDA WASDE and Crop Production, monthly
- USDA Export Sales, weekly, closely watched for cotton
- USDA Crop Progress and condition ratings, weekly
- Prospective Plantings (end of March) and Acreage (end of June)
- CONAB surveys for Brazil
Weather windows to watch
Spring and summer rain in West Texas, which decides abandonment and yields, hurricanes along the Gulf and Southeast during the open-boll stage, the monsoon in India and Pakistan, and the end of the rainy season in Mato Grosso.
Following cotton in Kommody
Kommody weights weather by cotton area in each producing region, tracks speculator positioning in Cotton No. 2 from the CFTC report, scores cotton news for sentiment and lists the cotton reports in the release calendar.
Frequently asked questions
- Which country exports the most cotton?
- Brazil and the United States are the two largest exporters; Brazil overtook the US in the 2023/24 season.
- Why is West Texas important for cotton?
- It is the largest US cotton region and largely rain-fed, so dry years lead to high abandonment and swing US production.