Texas Crop Report - areas backslide into drought

By Robert Burns AgriLife TODAY

COLLEGE STATION - While crops were doing reasonably well in Central Texas, much of the rest of the state is backsliding into drought pretty quickly, said a Texas AgriLife Extension Service expert.

"The area north of Waco, up through the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and a bit east of there, is in probably as good of shape as anywhere," said Dr. Travis Miller, AgriLife Extension program leader and associate head of the Texas A&M University soil and crop sciences department. "Go a little south of there, into the Williamson County-Georgetown area and it's pretty darned dry."

Many counties south of that area haven't seen a rain since about May 7, Miller noted.

In many areas, including Central Texas and the Brazos County area, the cotton crop is in pretty good shape, he said.

"Right here in Brazos County, we've had several good rains, and we're in good shape for the time being," he said.

Elsewhere, it's dry or drier, according to Miller and the United States Drought Monitor.

According to the US Department of Agriculture Texas Crop Progress and Condition report for the week of June 24, 9 percent of corn was in excellent condition, 51 percent good, 30 percent fair and 10 percent either poor or very poor.

Additionally, as much as 37 percent of pasture and rangeland was rated as being in poor or very poor condition.

More information on the current Texas drought and wildfire alerts can be found on the AgriLife Extension Agricultural Drought Task Force website at

http://agrilife.tamu.edu/drought/.

In the southwestern area, which includes the Texas Hill Country, a few counties saw temporary drought relief for pastures and forages thanks to scattered showers, but overall conditions remained very dry.

Grasshopper pressure was high. Forbs and grasses went dormant and produced seed. Even brush was showing signs of heat and water stress, and was losing color. Many brush species were producing seed.

Pastures continued to deteriorate, and row crops began to show moisture stress. Cattle restocking rates remained low. Corn was drying down. Cotton began to set bolls.