USDA Cotton Classing Report: How to Read Your Classing Data

Short answer: A USDA cotton classing report is the quality record for each bale, measured by USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) on a sample from that bale. It lists color grade, leaf grade, staple length, micronaire, strength, length uniformity and any extraneous matter, all measured on High Volume Instrument (HVI) systems plus a classer's visual check. Every U.S. bale is classed at one of 10 regional classing offices. The data decides your bale's loan value and is what buyers use to price it.

How a bale gets classed

The path from gin to report is short:

1. The gin tags and samples each bale. Every bale gets a Permanent Bale Identification (PBI) tag, a bar-coded 12-digit number that isn't repeated within five years. The tag goes between the two halves of the bale's sample.
2. The sample goes to a USDA classing office. The first two digits of the PBI gin code identify the classing office, and the next three identify the gin.
3. AMS tests it. HVI instruments measure the fiber, and a trained classer looks for extraneous matter such as bark, grass or plastic. Labs are held at 70°F (±1°) and 65% relative humidity (±2%) so readings are consistent across offices.
4. The data goes out electronically to the producer or the producer's agent, usually the gin or a merchant.

Classing isn't mandatory. It's done at the request of producers, who pay a user fee. In practice AMS says it classes every bale grown in the United States, because bale-level data is needed to market cotton and is required to take out a USDA marketing assistance loan.

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Reading the classing report, field by field

AMS publishes the record layout in its guide Cotton Classification: Understanding the Data. Here's what each main field means.

Color grade

Color grade reflects how gray (Rd, reflectance) and how yellow (+b) the cotton is. Both are measured by instrument and plotted on a chart to give a two-digit color grade plus a one-digit quadrant. The first digit runs from 1 (best) to 8. The second digit is the color group: 1 is white, 2 is light spotted, 3 is spotted, 4 is tinged and 5 is yellow stained. On USDA's loan schedule, 31 is Middling white and 41 is Strict Low Middling white, the base grade. 42 is Strict Low Middling light spotted.

A few special codes replace the color grade when a classer finds a problem: 96 for a mixture of upland and Pima, 97 for fire damage and 98 for water damage.

Leaf grade

Leaf grade measures bits of leaf left in the lint after ginning. For upland cotton it runs from 1 to 7, with 8 meaning below grade. It's calculated from the HVI trash reading (the percent of the sample surface covered by trash) and a particle count.

Staple length

HVI measures fiber length in hundredths of an inch. The report shows it in both hundredths and in 32nds, called staple. A few common conversions from the AMS chart:

Micronaire

Micronaire measures how much the fiber resists airflow, which reflects fineness and maturity. It's reported to the nearest tenth. Within a variety, micronaire and maturity are highly correlated. Both low and high "mike" readings are discounted, as the loan schedule below shows.

Strength

Strength is the force needed to break a bundle of fibers, reported in grams per tex. AMS describes the ranges this way:

Length uniformity

Length uniformity index measures how uniform the fiber lengths in a sample are, reported to the nearest tenth of a percent. AMS calls 79.5 to 82.4 average, 82.5 to 85.4 high and above 85.4 very high. Below 76.5 is very low.

Extraneous matter and remarks

A classer flags anything other than fiber or leaf, at level 1 (light) or level 2 (heavy). Codes include 01–02 for preparation, 11–12 for bark, 21–22 for grass, 31–32 for seed coat fragments, 41–42 for oil, 51–52 for spindle twist and, starting with the 2018 crop, 71–72 for plastic.

Module averaging

Many gins have their bales "module averaged." AMS averages micronaire, strength, length and uniformity across all the bales from one module or trailer, which its data shows makes the readings more reproducible. The report shows the module number and the number of bales in it. Bales that read far outside the module average are reported on their own values.

Loan premiums and discounts

The last field on the record is the USDA Commodity Credit Corporation loan premium or discount for that bale, in points (100 points = 1 cent per pound). It's blank if the bale isn't eligible for the loan.

What "base quality" means

The loan rate is set for a base quality. For 2025-crop upland cotton, the Farm Service Agency (FSA) defined base quality as:

• Color grade 41, leaf grade 4
• Staple 34 (1-1/16 inches)
• Micronaire 3.5–3.6 or 4.3–4.9
• Strength 26.0–28.9 grams per tex
• Uniformity 80.0–81.9%

Bales better than base earn premiums, and bales worse than base take discounts. Grade, leaf and staple are priced together in one grid. On the 2025-crop schedule, for example, a 31 color, leaf 3, staple 36 bale earned a 410-point (4.10 cents per pound) premium, while a 42 color, leaf 4, staple 33 bale took a 495-point discount. The other factors are priced separately. A few examples:

Premiums and discounts in the open market are set by buyers and can differ from the loan schedule. The schedule changes every crop year, so check FSA's current schedule before valuing a crop. For how growers use the data in management decisions, see turning cotton classing data into better farm decisions.

How to get your classing data

AMS sends classing data electronically to the bale's owner or the owner's agent. Most growers get it through their gin or merchant. Once released, it's also stored in the AMS National Cotton Database, which holds classing data for the current crop and the previous four crops for authorized users.

A few practical tips:

• Ask your gin which classing office it uses and how it shares data, by bale or by module.
• Match PBI numbers on the report to your gin receipts.
• If a bale's grade looks wrong, ask your gin about requesting a review classification. For module-averaged bales, AMS allows reviews of color grade, leaf grade, classer extraneous matter, color and trash.

Where the USDA cotton classing offices are

AMS runs 10 regional classing offices in seven states:

AMS lists which counties each office serves in CN Instruction 918-1, Exhibit A, linked from its classing office page.

Three of the Texas offices sit in the middle of major gin country:

• Cotton gins in Dawson County, TX, home of the Lamesa classing office
• Cotton gins in Lubbock County, TX, home of the Lubbock office, including Lubbock Cotton Growers
• Cotton gins in Nueces County, TX, home of the Corpus Christi office
• Cotton gins in Terry County, Texas, next door to Lamesa and Lubbock

To see how classing fits into the whole ginning process, read how a modern cotton gin works. For harvest-season volume, see the USDA Cotton Ginnings report explained.

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FAQ

What is a USDA cotton classing report?

It's the official quality record for each bale, issued by USDA AMS from a sample of that bale. It shows color grade, leaf grade, staple length, micronaire, strength, uniformity, extraneous matter and the bale's loan premium or discount.

What does color grade 31 mean?

The first digit (3) is the grade level and the second digit (1) means the color group is white. 31 is Middling white, one grade better than 41 (Strict Low Middling), the base grade for the loan.

What is a good micronaire for cotton?

For the 2025-crop USDA loan, 3.7 to 4.2 earned a small premium on eligible grades, 3.5–3.6 and 4.3–4.9 were base, and readings of 3.4 or lower or 5.0 or higher were discounted.

What is a good cotton fiber strength?

AMS describes 28.5 to 30.4 grams per tex as strong and 30.5 and above as very strong. On the 2025 loan schedule, strength of 29.0 or higher earned premiums.

How many USDA cotton classing offices are there?

Ten: Abilene, Corpus Christi, Lamesa and Lubbock in Texas; Dumas, Arkansas; Rayville, Louisiana; Memphis, Tennessee; Macon, Georgia; Florence, South Carolina; and Visalia, California.

How do I get my cotton classing data?

AMS sends it electronically to the bale owner or the owner's agent, usually your gin or merchant. Authorized users can also access it in the AMS National Cotton Database for the current and previous four crops.

Sources

1. USDA AMS. Cotton Classification: Understanding the Data (Universal Classification Data Format, updated July 13, 2018): PBI, color grade codes, staple conversion, micronaire, strength and uniformity tables, leaf grade, extraneous matter codes, module averaging, loan premium field. https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/CottonDBUnderstandingtheData.pdf
2. USDA AMS. "Cotton Classing Services": voluntary user-fee service, every U.S. bale classed, 10 offices in seven states, HVI measurements, lab conditions, National Cotton Database. https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/grading/cotton-classing
3. USDA AMS. "Cotton Classing Office Locations": addresses of the 10 classing offices and CN Instruction 918-1 Exhibit A. https://www.ams.usda.gov/about-ams/programs-offices/cotton-tobacco/classing-offices
4. USDA FSA. "USDA Announces 2025 Upland Cotton Marketing Assistance Loan Rate" (Jan. 2, 2025): base quality definition. https://www.fsa.usda.gov/news-events/news/01-02-2025/usda-announces-2025-upland-cotton-marketing-assistance-loan-rate
5. USDA FSA. 2025-Crop Upland Cotton Schedule of Premiums and Discounts (corrected April 21, 2025): micronaire, strength, uniformity and extraneous matter points. https://www.fsa.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2025-04/2025%20Cotton%20Loan%20Schedule%20CORRECTED%20APR212025.pdf

Related Blog Posts

• Cotton Fiber Testing Methods Explained
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• Navigating USDA Cotton Standards
• Turning Cotton Classing Data into Better Farm Decisions