A 25-county area in the texas high plains generally produces 22-23 percent of the annual cotton crop in the U.S. due to climatic variations from year to year, and from north to south in this region, however, fiber quality may fluctuate appreciably from season to season and within the district.

Beginning with the 1980 growing season a study was initiated to determine the feasibility of utilizing a preharvest sampling technique to assess fiber quality of the high plains cotton crop prior to harvest during the course of the ensuing seven crop years, sampling and testing techniques have been refined to the point that preharvest fiber property determinations can now be routinely employed with a very high degree of accuracy in predicting seasonal fiber properties.