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Context: Cotton quality is as crucial as cotton quantity. Despite considerable efforts to enhance cotton yield, there has been limited focus on maximizing fiber quality. The temperature experienced from flowering to boll opening becomes the critical factor affecting fiber quality when cotton is cultivated under optimum water and nutrient conditions. This depends on the planting date for a specific location and cultivar. Therefore, fiber quality can be improved by optimizing the planting date for a specific geographic location and cultivar. Objective: The study aims to develop a methodology for optimizing planting dates to maximize fiber quality, taking into account location-specific weather and cultivar details. Methods: A methodology is developed and demonstrated for the cotton belt in the USA. The methodology accounts for temperature, planting intervals, cotton varieties (early, mid, and late-season), and four major fiber quality indicators (fiber length, strength, micronaire, and uniformity). Based on the average of the last 15 years of weather data and different cotton cultivars, spatial maps depicting the best planting dates and associated fiber quality are analyzed for 765 cotton-growing counties in the USA. The study also explores variability in the optimum planting date and fiber quality with climate change in these counties. Results: Results indicate that planting cotton at the optimum planting date can improve all fiber quality features. Fiber length can range from medium (25–29 mm) to long (30–34.5 mm), fiber strength from strong (29–30 g/tex) to very strong (>31 g/tex), micronaire from the discount range (≤3.4 and ≥5.0) to the base range (3.5–3.6 and 4.3–4.9), and uniformity can be high (>85). Applying the methodology with consideration of future climate projections shows a 19 % decline in micronaire - the most affected trait, followed by 8.4 % and 1.6 % decreases in length and uniformity, respectively. In contrast, fiber strength is expected to increase by 5 % in the future. Conclusions: Results indicate that optimizing the planting date with the developed methodology can enhance fiber quality. Additionally, the methodology can predict variations in fiber quality due to future climatic conditions. Significance The developed methodology can be valuable for farmers and growers seeking to enhance fiber quality. It is standard and applicable to any location and cultivar. A similar approach can be adopted for other locations and crops, such as soybeans, rice, and wheat, to optimize their quality.