This year, Arizona could plant more than 150,000 total cotton acres as California might push past 250,000 acres. California and Arizona are poised for significant increases in cotton acreage in 2017, putting the U.S. on track for a total of 11 million acres of the fiber crop.

Preliminary estimates from California and Arizona suggest acreage increases in the neighborhood of 25-30 percent for Arizona and upwards of 20 percent in California.

California cotton plantings for 2017 could include 186,000 acres of Pima and 70,000 acres of Upland varieties. Reports from the various seed companies suggest some cotton seed is sold out or in short supply in California. If this holds, this will be a 22 percent increase for Pima acreage and 6 percent boost in Upland acreage.

Arizona last year reported over 129,000 total acres of cotton, according to Leighton Liesner, director, Arizona Cotton Research and Protection Council. California produced nearly 219,000 total acres of cotton in the same period.

If projections hold, total cotton acreage in Arizona could climb to between 160,000-170,000 acres. It is expected that extra-long staple Pima varieties could account for a little over 13,000 acres of that – unchanged from last year.