When Is Cotton Harvested in Mississippi? Harvest Months in the Delta

Short answer: Mississippi cotton is usually harvested from mid-September through mid-November. USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) puts the usual harvest window at September 15 to November 12, with the most active stretch from September 27 to October 29. In 2026 the crop ran ahead of normal: 83% of Mississippi cotton was harvested by October 25, against a 2021–2025 average of 68% for that week.

Mississippi cotton harvest dates at a glance

NASS publishes "usual" planting and harvesting dates for each state, based on long-run reports from county extension agents and crop reporters. For Mississippi upland cotton, they look like this:

Source: USDA NASS, Field Crops Usual Planting and Harvesting Dates (October 2010).

So the simple answer for anyone asking "what time of year is cotton harvested in Mississippi" is late September and October, with early fields picked in mid-September and the last ones finishing in early-to-mid November.

Those are typical dates, not fixed ones. A warm, dry fall pushes harvest early. A wet fall, or a crop that was planted late after spring rains, can drag picking into November.

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How the 2026 harvest is running

NASS tracks harvest progress every week during the season in its Crop Progress report. Here's how Mississippi has moved in October 2026:

Source: USDA NASS Crop Progress, October 13 and October 26, 2026.

A hot, sunny late summer sped the crop along. Writing on September 8, 2026, Mississippi State University Extension cotton specialist Brian Pieralisi reported that some early-planted acres had already been defoliated in the last days of August and the first days of September. He noted that later-planted cotton (planted May 25–31) finished flowering faster than usual in the heat, and he expected most of the state's defoliation to happen over the following two weeks.

Where cotton grows in Mississippi: the Delta and beyond

Most Mississippi cotton grows in the Delta, the flat alluvial plain in the northwest part of the state between the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers. NASS county estimates for 2023, the latest county-level release, show where the bales came from:

Source: USDA NASS, Mississippi Cotton County Estimates (May 2024). Bales are 480-lb equivalents.

Coahoma County, around Clarksdale, was the state's largest cotton county by a wide margin. Outside the Delta, the Black Prairie counties of east-central Mississippi, led by Noxubee, Monroe and Lowndes, also grow meaningful acreage.

NASS does not publish separate harvest dates for the Delta and the hill counties, so the statewide window is the best public guide for both. Within any county, planting date, variety and irrigation drive more of the difference from field to field than geography does.

Statewide acres and yields

Mississippi's cotton acreage swings with prices and crop rotation. According to NASS's Crop Production 2025 Summary:

At about 1,190 pounds per acre, a typical Mississippi field makes roughly 2.5 bales per acre (1,193 ÷ 480). For comparison, see how many bales of cotton per acre Texas makes, where dryland acres pull the state average much lower.

Defoliation: the step that sets the harvest date

Cotton isn't picked the moment the bolls open. Growers first apply a harvest aid, called a defoliant, to drop the leaves and open the remaining bolls so the picker can run cleanly. The timing of that application largely decides when a field gets harvested.

Mississippi State University Extension's guidance:

• Open bolls: It is generally safe to defoliate when 50% to 60% of the bolls are open and the youngest boll expected to be harvested is mature, usually 36 to 40 days old.
• Nodes above cracked boll: At least four nodes above the highest first-position cracked boll are generally mature enough not to be hurt by a harvest aid.
• Check the field: Bolls that are less than 36 days old when the harvest aid goes on are generally lighter, with lower micronaire and sometimes lower fiber strength. MSU advises a physical look at the bolls before any application.

The 2025 MidSouth Cotton Defoliation Guide, written by extension cotton specialists from Mississippi State and neighboring states, adds the timing rules growers plan around:

• Apply defoliants 10 to 14 days before the expected harvest date, and don't defoliate every field at once. Leaf drop should start in about four days and finish in about ten.
• Harvest aids work best with warm, sunny weather. Nighttime temperatures above 60°F matter for some products, and above 60°F the rate of leaf drop roughly doubles for every 10-degree rise.
• Avoid spraying right before a big rain, because rain in a cracking boll can increase hard lock and boll rot.
• Apply harvest aids no later than about 10 days before the area's average first frost.

That's why a Delta harvest moves in waves. Fields are defoliated in sequence, and the pickers follow one to two weeks behind.

Picking, modules and getting cotton to the gin

Many Mississippi fields are now picked with harvesters that build and wrap a round module on board. According to a USDA-ARS review in the Journal of Cotton Science, those round modules weigh roughly 4,500 to 5,500 pounds of seed cotton each, and the harvester wraps them in plastic film so no ground crew is needed to tarp them. Up to eight round modules fit on a flatbed semitrailer without special permits, which lets gins draw cotton from farther away.

For field handling tips, see best practices for round cotton module handling. For what happens once a module reaches the gin yard, see how a modern cotton gin works.

Weather risks during a Mississippi harvest

Late-season rain is a common problem in the Mid-South. Rain on cracking bolls can increase hard lock and boll rot, according to the MidSouth defoliation guide. Rain after a harvest aid application can also trigger regrowth, new leaves right next to the stalk that are very difficult to remove at harvest. Most growers, Pieralisi told Cotton Grower, plan on a two-pass defoliation program because rain so often delays or weakens the first application.

Planting dates matter too. In a Cotton Grower report on 2026 defoliation, Pieralisi described part of the state's crop as planted several weeks behind the rest after spring rains, effectively "two totally different crops" that had to be defoliated and harvested on different schedules.

Frost is the late-season deadline. Bolls need warm temperatures to open, which is why the guide recommends finishing harvest aid applications about 10 days before the average first frost.

When Mississippi gins run

Gins start when the first modules arrive in September and run hardest in October, when most of the crop comes out of the field. They keep ginning after picking ends, working through the modules stored in the gin yard.

The USDA Cotton Ginnings report shows the pace. By October 15, 2026, Mississippi gins had processed 159,150 running bales, compared with 314,850 by the same date in 2024. (NASS didn't publish a 2025 figure for that date.) The USDA Cotton Ginnings report explained walks through how to read those numbers, and cotton ginning season by region compares Mississippi with other Cotton Belt states.

To find a gin near your farm, start with these county pages:

• Cotton gins in Coahoma County, MS, including Farrell Gin in Clarksdale and Mattson Gin in Clarksdale
• Cotton gins in Leflore County, MS, including Greenwood Gin
• Cotton gins in Yazoo County, MS, including Yazoo Planters Gin in Yazoo City
• Cotton gins in Mississippi: full list

For harvest timing in other states, see the ultimate guide to cotton harvest timing by state and when cotton is harvested in Texas.

Cotton markets, every trading day. Delta and Mid-South cotton prices every trading day: The Cotton Wire. Subscribe to The Cotton Wire

FAQ

What month is cotton harvested in Mississippi?

Mostly late September and October. USDA NASS lists Mississippi's usual cotton harvest as September 15 to November 12, with the most active period from September 27 to October 29.

When is cotton harvested in the Mississippi Delta?

On the same general schedule as the rest of the state, since the Delta grows most of Mississippi's cotton. NASS doesn't publish separate Delta dates. Early-planted Delta fields can be defoliated in late August or early September in a hot year, as happened in 2026.

When is cotton planted in Mississippi?

NASS lists the usual planting window as April 20 to May 29, with most planting from April 27 to May 19.

How long after defoliation is cotton picked?

Usually 10 to 14 days. The MidSouth Cotton Defoliation Guide says leaf drop starts in about four days and should be complete in about ten.

How far along is the 2026 Mississippi cotton harvest?

USDA NASS reported 83% harvested for the week ending October 25, 2026, ahead of the 2021–2025 average of 68%.

Which Mississippi county grows the most cotton?

Coahoma County led the state in 2023 with an estimated 138,700 bales, according to NASS county estimates. Tunica, Quitman, Noxubee and Bolivar counties followed.

Sources

1. USDA NASS. Field Crops Usual Planting and Harvesting Dates (Agricultural Handbook 628, October 2010): Mississippi upland cotton planting and harvest dates. https://downloads.usda.library.cornell.edu/usda-esmis/files/vm40xr56k/dv13zw65p/w9505297d/planting-10-29-2010.pdf
2. USDA NASS. Crop Progress (released October 13, 2026): cotton harvested, weeks ending October 4 and 11, 2026, and 2021–2025 average. https://release.nass.usda.gov/reports/prog4126.pdf
3. USDA NASS. Crop Progress (released October 26, 2026): cotton harvested, weeks ending October 18 and 25, 2026, and 2021–2025 average. https://release.nass.usda.gov/reports/prog4326.pdf
4. USDA NASS. Mississippi Cotton County Estimates (May 10, 2024): 2022–2023 upland cotton by county. https://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Mississippi/Publications/County_Estimates/2022-2023/23_MS_cotton.pdf
5. USDA NASS. Crop Production 2025 Summary (January 2026): Mississippi upland cotton acres, yield and production, 2023–2025. https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/Todays_Reports/reports/cropan26.pdf
6. USDA NASS. Cotton Ginnings (released October 22, 2026): running bales ginned by state to October 15. https://release.nass.usda.gov/reports/ctgn4326.pdf
7. Mississippi State University Extension. "Application timing" (cotton harvest aids): percent open bolls, boll age, nodes above cracked boll. https://extension.msstate.edu/agriculture/crops/cotton/application-timing
8. Raper, T. B., B. Pieralisi, et al. 2025 MidSouth Cotton Defoliation Guide (MidSouth Cotton Specialists' Working Group): application timing, weather, frost and rain guidance. https://www.mississippi-crops.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/W376_2025.pdf
9. Pieralisi, B. "Specialists Speaking." Cotton Farming, September 2026: 2026 Mississippi defoliation timing. https://www.cottonfarming.com/current-issue/specialists-speaking-brian-pieralisi-4/
10. "Timely Defoliation Has Its Advantages." Cotton Grower, 2026: split planting dates in the 2026 Mississippi crop. https://www.cottongrower.com/cotton-production/timely-defoliation-has-its-advantages/
11. Funk, P. A., and J. D. Wanjura. "Seed Cotton Unloading Systems." Journal of Cotton Science 21:51–59 (2017): round module weight and transport. https://doi.org/10.56454/zjjg4144

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