One hundred fields were sampled for nematodes and plant mapped in 1995. The proportion of fields infested with root-knot nematode in the Southern High Plains was 60% or higher in seven of the 20 counties surveyed and more than 1.4 million acres of cotton is grown in these seven counties. Root-knot nematode was found in 39% of all fields sampled and 18% of those fields had an average root-knot nematode population > 500/500 cm³ soil (16% were greater than 1000 root-knot nematode/500 cm³ soil). Root-knot nematode density was associated with a reduction in the nodes above white flower and number of squares in irrigated but not dryland fields.