Farmers and ranchers across the state are expected to benefit from substantial rains received in late September and early October, according to officials at the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.
In a report published in the Waco Tribune-Herald, Texas AgriLife’s Robert Burns reported that at least 80 percent of the state got at least one inch of rain in the last week of September, with many regions receiving as much as nine inches.
The downside, according to Travis Miller of the Texas AgriLife Extension service, is that the rains came too late to benefit the cotton in the field. Overall, he said, the rain had a major “upside.”
“We had almost none of our wheat crop up, though there was quite a bit dusted in, and this will get it up,” Miller said.
The Far West, West Central and South Plains regions of the state benefited the most from the rain, according to Miller. Because of the drought, the area had very little hay stocks going into the winter. The prospect of winter grazing will mean farmers and ranchers in those areas will be able to carry their remaining cattle through the winter, he said.