American Upland cotton quality has generally been at a high level for the past five crop years for the major quality factors. Classers' color grades of 41/32 and higher accounted for over 85 percent of the crop for four of the past five years. Classer color grades 41/32 and higher amounted to 89 percent for the 1997 crop through December 15, the highest of the past five crop years. Classers' leaf grades averaged 3.1 for the 1997 crop and ranged from 2.9 to 3.1 for the past five crops. The percentage of extraneous matter averaged lower in the 1997 crop than the previous two crops but higher than the 1993 crop. The average mike for the U.S. crop was 4.3 for the past three crop years. The U.S. strength average was 29.0 for the 1997 crop, up from 28.4 for the 1996 crop and down slightly from 29.1 in 1995. The U.S. staple length averaged 35.2 for the past two crop years.