South Plains

South Plains is a vernacular term that refers to a region in West Texas consisting of the portion of the Llano Estacado extending south of the Texas Panhandle, centered at Lubbock. While prominent in the area of petroleum production, the South Plains is mainly an agricultural region, producing a great percentage of the nation's cotton and possessing numerous large cattle ranches. The South Plains is also home to several colleges and universities, the largest being Texas Tech University in Lubbock.

Counties
The South Plains region includes 24 counties: The northernmost four (Parmer, Castro, Swisher, and Briscoe) are also considered to be part of the Texas Panhandle region.

Cotton
Cotton is the most common crop grown in South Plains region. In 2004 and again in 2005, records were broken for cotton production. In an extended area comprising 31 counties in and near the South Plains, more than a million bales of cotton were harvested in 2005. This makes the South Plains the world’s largest cotton-producing region.

See also:
 * National Cotton Council of America: United States Cotton Production
 * USDA Foreign Agricultural Service Crop Explorer.

Regional identity
There are many businesses and organizations that use “South Plains” as part of their name, helping to form the South Plains regional identity. These include South Plains College in Levelland; the Panhandle-South Plains Fair held annually in Lubbock; the South Plains Regional Chapter of the American Red Cross; South Plains Council of the Boy Scouts of America; and numerous other public and private organizations.

The South Plains is a smaller region within the Llano Estacado. Residents of the South Plains claim residency in both regions.