Lack of rain continues to plague most of Texas
By ROBERT BURNS
Texas AgriLife Communications
COLLEGE STATION -- At the end of May, many areas received rain, but in most of the state the agricultural situation remained extremely dire, according to reports from Texas AgriLife Exten-sion Service personnel.
Most everywhere, soil moisture remained short, except in North Texas, where despite good rains, they were reported as merely adequate. In most areas, wheat grown for grain has been lost or yields severely reduced, according to reports from AgriLife Extension county agents.
Cotton planting continued in areas where the planting window is later, such as the South Plains and Rolling Plains, but the situation in those regions doesn't look promising either, said Mark Kelley, AgriLife Extension regional specialist based in Lubbock.
In an average year, the South Plains grows about 4 million acres of cotton, approximately 60 percent or more of the state's total acreage.
Cotton has largely failed in South Texas, and the plantings are at risk in Central Texas.
Because the planting window is later in the South Plains, there was hope the drought conditions would lift in time for cotton, Kelley said.
"We've been in the planting window for a while now," he said. "It's just we're having issues keeping the ground wet enough, even under irrigated situations, to get a good stand."
Farmers with center pivots are able to get the planting zone wet enough to get a good emergence, Kelley said. Those with only drip irrigation -- unless they have the option to roll water (surge irrigation) or have a sprinkler system over the drip -- are having trouble keeping the moisture high enough in the soil profile to plant.
"For the dryland guys; the moisture is non-existent. We've got some that are trying to trickle seed in to the dry dirt and just hope for rain," he said. "It's looking pretty bleak here."
Meanwhile, the opportunities for planting to produce a viable crop and to meet crop insurance deadlines are fast approaching.
The insurance deadline for north of Lubbock, around Parmer and Bailey counties, is about May 31. Around Lubbock the deadline is about June 5 and south of Lubbock, June 10, he said. The outlook in the Rolling Plains is about the same as the South Plains, Kelley said.
"They may have enough moisture to get cotton up, but to keep it going they're going to have to have more," he said. "They're going to have to have a lot more."
From a national standpoint, Texas is a "minor player" in feed grains, said Travis Miller, AgriLife Extension program leader and associate department head of the soil and crop sciences departmentat Texas A&M University. But Texas typically plants about half the cotton acreage in the U.S., so a large-scale crop failure here could have a great impact on prices nationally.
More information on the current Texas drought and wildfire alerts can be found on the AgriLife Extension Agricultural Drought Task Force website at agrilife. tamu.edu/drought/.
AgriLife Extension district reporters compiled the following summaries:
Central -- Much of the district received rain. Rangeland, pastures and grain sorghum responded very well, but the rain came too late for most corn. Cotton replanting was mostly complete.
Coastal Bend -- Hot, dry southerly winds persisted, further drying out soils and stressing crops. Most ponds were bone dry or very low. Forage grasses were short and beginning to turn brown from lack of moisture. Little hay has been harvested. Livestock producers began selling cattle.
East -- As much as 3 inches of rain were reported in some areas. All parts of the region still needed much more moisture, however. Where there was rain, pastures and grazing conditions improved. But because pastures were still very short, many livestock producers still were feeding hay and/or culling herds. Some hay was being cut, but yields were low. There was not enough rain to result in very much runoff, so stock ponds remained unusually low. Trinity County reported an abundance of grasshoppers in pastures.
Far West -- Conditions remained very hot and dry, and there was no rain forecast. Producers were watering pecans, alfalfa and coastal Bermuda grass as much as they could, but with the dry, windy conditions, they couldn't make much headway. Extreme risk of wildfire remained. Fires continued to burn in northeastern Brewster County. In other fires, more than 170,000 acres have been burned. Producers will be years recovering from the loss of forage and fences. Livestock were being sold and shipped out of the district due to the dry conditions. Pecans bloomed and were being pollinated. Fall-planted onions were bulbing. Alfalfa farmers were able to bale. Hay looked good with low pest numbers. Pastures and rangeland were super dry, yellow and brown, with mesquite showing the only green.
North -- Good rains were received across most of the area, and soil-moisture levels were mostly in the adequate range. There were no reports of wheat being harvested, but most fields were very close to being mature. Corn and grain sorghum looked very good, but the rain was too late for much of the corn in some areas. In others, corn, soybeans and grain sorghum were all in mostly fair condition. Peaches continued to look good. Hay producers were starting to bale early season grasses and were expecting good to fair yields.
Planting of cotton and sunflowers was in progress. Oats were being harvested. Peanuts were in very poor condition. Dairy producers' outlook for corn and sorghum silage production was very good. Livestock were in fair to good condition. Rangeland and pastures were in fair to good condition. Feral hog activity was on the rise.
Panhandle -- Dry and windy conditions continued. Soil-moisture was mostly rated as being very short. The danger of wildfire remained high. Producers were busy in the fields -- planting cotton, finishing up corn planting and actively irrigating. With no rain, winter wheat continued to decline, and producers with irrigation were reallocating water to summer crops. Rangeland and pasture conditions were mostly very poor. Drought left livestock producers with dried-out rangeland, and required them to do a lot of supplemental feeding. High fuel costs combined with high feed prices caused some producers to decide to cut their losses and sell off herds.
Southeast -- As of mid-May, most of Brazoria County had received only 6 inches of rain for the year, compared to a long-term average for the same period of 20 inches. In other areas, corn was expected to be a total loss due to no rain since planting.
