Rain helped, but it’s not all hunky-dory yet

left to right: Clayton Loftin- Texas Agrilife Extension Service Intern, Tommy Neyland- Texas Agrilife Extension Service Agent, Leon County 4-H members Tyler Spillman, Casey Helfinbein, Sara Eweing, Cassie Ferguson, Kastin Martin, Ryan McCarty, and Reagan Robertson. Contributed photo COLLEGE STATION – Rain alleviated drought conditions throughout much of the state. However, many regions need considerably more rain to fully recover, according to Texas AgriLife Extension Service personnel.

Depending on location, the Coastal Bend area has only had 6 to 9 inches of rain for the year, said Dr. Dan Fromme, AgriLife Extension agronomist based in Corpus Christi.

The average rainfall is about 29 inches in the Corpus Christi area, according to Fromme. As most of the region is in dryland crops, the drought has hit local agriculture particularly hard. Fromme said he has been getting calls from local media expecting him to say things are just rosy now, but it isn't so.

Despite the drought, peanuts look good throughout Texas this year, according to Texas AgriLife Extension Service personnel. Fields were being dug in the South Plains, and combining should start soon. (Texas AgriLife Extension Service photo) "We've got a long way to go before things begin to look hunky-dory down here as far as soil moisture is concerned," Fromme said.

Still, things have improved considerably. Farmers don't plant corn until February; cotton, not until March, he said. More moisture will be needed between now and then to ensure good conditions at planting, and the long-range forecasts are favorable for a wet fall.

"It would be nice to have another 5 or 6 inches," he said.

Much of East and North Texas have different problems; frequent showers and wet fields are keeping them from taking another cutting of hay. In the Panhandle, growers are hoping for warmer days to help cotton and sorghum mature. AgriLife Extension agents from most regions reported that the condition of livestock improved thanks to the green up of pastures and rangelands. And stock water tanks have either been partially filled or completely filled in many regions as well.

If anything is hunky-dory this year, it might be peanuts, reported Jeff Wyatt, AgriLife Extension agent for Dawson County, south of Lubbock.

"They started digging this week, and everything looked pretty good, though of course we don't have any numbers back yet," Wyatt said.

Peanuts are first dug and the nuts are turned upside down to dry. Once dried, specially equipped combines will be used to complete the harvest. Dawson County has about 2,500 acres of peanuts, all irrigated, this year, he said.

Feral hogs have been a problem this season, Wyatt said.

"They're about to take us over," Wyatt said. "They stick their nose in at one end of the row and just go to the other. It's just amazing."

Wyatt said a herd of feral hogs (called a "sounder") can destroy as many 50 acres of peanuts in a night. Figuring income loss of about $400 per acre, a farmer can easily see losses of $20,000 or more in a single evening, he said.

"They're getting to be a real problem," he said.