Estimating cotton yield and net revenue Understanding the Variables involved in Growing Cotton

Cotton Flower The bud leaves are in the shape of a triangle.

Closed Cotton Boll Most Cotton Bolls come in four sections, but some have 5.

Boll-Round fluffy clumps that cotton grows in

Open cotton boll Once the boll is dried by the sun, it splits open and reveals the seed cotton inside. Round Fluffy Clumps in which cotton grows on a cotton plant.

Lint- Fiber from the cotton plant

Seed Cotton-Cotton and seed together from the boll

Cotton bale Pressed and compressed, or tied bundle of cotton- Generally 480-500 lbs. They can be round or rectangular.

Cotton Picker/Baler Machine

Cotton Picker Efficiency Efficiency of harvesting equipment varies significantly- age, condition, field and environmental conditions. The proportion of the crop that ends up in the picker basket may vary between %75-%95. Under good conditions, pickers will be able to gather roughly %95 of the seed cotton, containing both lint and cottonseed into the machine.

Cotton Bale- delivery

Cotton Gin

Cotton Gin Tournout The cotton gin then processes the seed cotton. It removes the Bolls, Sticks and Seeds leaving just the lint to process into cloth. The Gin Tournout ranges from 38% – 50%.

Boll Rot

Hard Lock and Seed Sprouting in Cotton Lint

How much cotton from Arizona? About 900 cotton farms produce an average total of 600,000 bales. That's enough cotton for at least one pair of jeans for every person in the United States.

We will be estimating both gross and net cotton harvest.

Now we know the variables, let’s get to estimating!