Texas agriculture has been facing severe heat and drought stress across the Panhandle and East Texas, high cattle and beef prices amid slow herd rebuilding, and an ongoing state emergency response to New World screwworm detections with a new sterile fly facility scheduled for spring 2027.
In the Panhandle, hot, dry conditions dominated the district, with daily highs exceeding 100 degrees in several areas and one county reporting 104 degrees. Topsoil and subsoil moisture levels ranged from very short to adequate. Rainfall was minimal and spotty, with amounts generally under a quarter of an inch where it fell.
Dryland sorghum was struggling, and some producers had already turned fields in to crop insurance. Dryland sorghum fields showed more widespread midseason disease pressure than irrigated fields, and growers were electing to harvest forage from some of the most affected acres rather than continue watering. Most cotton fields were on the fast track for flowering and boll development, with many already reaching cutout.
Pasture and rangeland were in very poor to good condition. Livestock conditions ranged from very poor to good across the district.
The South Plains region also had extreme heat gripping the district, with temperatures in the triple digits for more than a week in some areas and heat advisories in effect. Topsoil and subsoil moisture ranged from very short to adequate. Scattered rainfall ranged from trace amounts to 2.26 inches, and hail accompanied the storm system in some areas and damaged crops. Dryland cotton was showing heat stress, wilting and shedding squares in some fields, while irrigated cotton was hanging on where producers could irrigate. Cotton growth was behind schedule but still had a chance to make a good crop if heat units and weather cooperated over the next two months. Irrigated peanuts were pegging and setting pods well, with no larval feeding noted.
Corn leafhopper was present and threatening late-planted corn, while grasshoppers and mites were the top concern elsewhere. Some producers were letting sorghum go to concentrate irrigation on cotton and corn, with early silage chopping reported.
Native pastures were drying up, and supplemental feeding of cattle increased. Pasture and rangeland were in very poor to fair condition.
The Texas Department of Agriculture has issued agricultural emergency declarations for multiple counties hit by extreme weather, activating localized disaster assistance and support through the STAR Fund.
Meanwhile, persistent dry conditions slowed cattle expansion across the Great Plains keeping beef prices high with tight supplies expected to linger. Cattle prices still have room to go up, according to David Anderson, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension livestock marketing economist and professor.
“We are going to produce less beef this year and next year and maybe into 2028,” Anderson said. “We can’t expand the herd in a drought, and it will happen slowly with higher input costs and interest rates, and the market volatility - tariffs, trade, screwworm and other pests we are still seeing.”
Anderson said fed cattle are selling for an average of $230 per hundredweight now, but by next quarter, they could move to $243-$245 per hundredweight. In 2027, that price could go as high as $250-$256 per hundredweight.
Prices for lightweight cattle or feeder calves, 500-600 pounds, have dropped slightly in the past few weeks, from $476.24 to $437.44 per hundredweight, but are expected to climb back as high as $459-$467 per hundredweight in the second quarter of 2027.