I know they bale it in October--even into November in the bootheel of Missouri. The whole area looks like a giant pillow fight has just occurred for weeks. They take the big bales to a shipping facility but I don't know what happens after that.
The land is all irrigated down there but they grow rice in the really wet parts. The cotton fields are only wet in the spring and summer rains will drown it out.
I'm not even sure what they use Missouri cotton for.