The quality of cotton produced in the Delta region of Mississippi was analyzed during the 14 crop years of 1973 through 1986. Three quality categories and related discount/premium were reviewed to ascertain how cotton grade, staple length, and micronaire have changed over time. Separating the study period in two 7-year subperiods and comparing average quality by category found that grade has deteriorated between the two subperiods while staple length and micronaire have increased slightly. A similar analysis was done to determine how quality changes during the weeks of harvest. Weekly quality and discount/premium indicated that grade and micronaire declines steadily while staple increases until cotton maturity and then declines during the remainder of the harvest weeks.

The purpose of this report was to analyze the quality of Mississippi Delta cotton during the 14 crop years, 1973-74 through 1986-87. The three cotton quality categories studied were grade, staple, and micronaire. Each of the three cotton quality categories were reviewed and compared to the price per pound discounts or premiums over the selected years. The data were collected from annual and weekly USDA, AMS, Cotton Division publications (see References for details).

The research consisted of two different types of analyses using two different time periods. First, an examination of yearly changes in cotton quality by crop years over the 14 year period was performed to indicate any overall trend in the average quality and the respective discount/premiums. Second, an investigation was made of the weekly changes in cotton quality and discount/premiums during the harvest period for each of the last 4 years of the study period. The weekly review was done to detect if cotton quality and premiums/discounts were affected by the timing and length of harvest during the crop year. Implications of the weekly analysis may be used to estimate the economic benefits of cultural/production practices that promote early harvest.