We tested the suggestion that early season damage may limit the crops subsequent exploitation of moisture in the skip row, which may in turn 11nxit the crops ability to recover. Over two seasons the recovery response of dryland double skip cotton was investigated, where artificial damage was used to simulate damage caused by thrips or Helicoverpa. Treatments included defoliation and/or tip damage. None of the treatments significantly affected yield, however there was a consistent trend towards lower yield in heavier damage treatments. Moisture extraction from the plant row and skip did not appear to be correlated with plant damage, although seasonal weather conditions may have affected this result. Earliness was not specifically assessed but heavy damage treatments appeared slightly delayed. These experiments suggest that factors other than early season damage may be affecting the plants ability to extract moisture from the skip row. Further work in this area needs to be conducted to assess the impact of damage on skip row cotton and factors affecting extraction.