A battery powered, portable, moisture meter was developed for cotton using concepts of a recently patented resistance moisture meter. Similar designs have been used in non-portable applications with the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) classing offices and in cotton gins. The 8 in. by 9 in. by 10.5 in. meter weighs about 30 pounds including a 10 pound sample compression weight. The meter has a push button to signal when a reading is to be taken on the sample in the measurement chamber; the moisture content is then indicated on a liquid crystal display. The meter was calibrated using three replications of 16 cotton samples that had been equilibrated at several different relative humidities. No problems were encountered in the use of the meter and evaluation of data obtained with five independent sets of 16 cotton samples resulted in a standard difference between the resistance-based moisture reading and the oven moisture measurement of the same samples of 0.21 percent, wet basis.