With most of the High Plains experiencing moderate to severe drought over the past month, along with the recent bouts of severe weather hitting Hockley and surrounding areas, local crops are in a somewhat ambiguous state.
In an interview, Hockley County AgriLife Extension Agent for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Wes Utley, says that there have been numerous reports of failed cotton crops, but that the county was “not taken out.”
“We’ve been experiencing a combination of every type of weather across the county. Some crops are getting rain with hail, some are just hot, dry and windy. The crops have come up, and we haven’t been taken out, although drought is always a factor,” he says.
Governor Greg Abbott declared a drought disaster proclamation in June, citing Hockley as one of the affected counties. The proclamation certified that exceptional drought conditions posed a threat of imminent disaster to counties affected, notably by rendering them susceptible to wildfires.
With sporadic bouts of rain during the past month, however, cotton crops across the county have been faring better, although not quite on a uniform basis.
“You’ll have a rain cloud over Anton and then no rain five miles away,” explains Utley. Because of this, there aren’t specific areas of the county where crops are faring better, but instead specific crops that were lucky enough to get a rain cloud settled above them.
More recent severe weather, including hailstorms and strong winds, could be detrimental to the success of any crop.
“After a hailstorm, producers have to wait a little while, usually a few weeks, in order to see if crops will recover or if they will need to get hold of their crop insurance provider,” says Utley.
“Some of the cotton that got hailed out will get replaced by grain sorghum or corn,” he adds.
Still, Utley says that though crops are scattered, the majority are doing well.
“You can’t predict how harvest is going to go. It varies year by year depending on ongoing conditions and all that. It's way too early to see what we’ve got, but right now, we have a combination of crops that are ahead and behind.”
When asked if there was something specific that Utley wanted the community to know regarding cotton production during this period of drought and extreme weather, he asked that people “be mindful of producers moving equipment all around after these rains, as they try and keep fields from blowing.”