Beef/Agriculture

Texas AgriLife Extension Service photo by Robert Burns

East Texas producers were preparing fields for planting, but without higher soil-moisture levels they will just be wasting seed, said a Texas AgriLife Extension Service agent.

Panhandle corn, cotton in good shape

COLLEGE STATION -- Got hay? It depends upon where you are, according to Texas AgriLife Extension Service personnel.

In the Coastal Bend and South Plains, hay and forage supplies were reported to be plentiful, but in large swathes of the state, it was a different story.

Throughout East Texas and parts of North Texas, stocks were either short or critically low, according to AgriLife Extension agent reports.

East and North Texas hay production got hit by a double whammy. An unusually wet, cool winter and early spring delayed summer grasses coming out of dormancy. A mid-summer drought followed, along with an extended triple-digit heat wave, bringing hay production to a halt, said Aaron Low, AgriLife Extension agent in Cherokee County, south of Tyler.

“That’s what happened here, and it’s pretty much the same story throughout East Texas,” Low said.

Galen Logan, AgriLife Extension agent in Camp County, northeast of Longview, gave a similar account. Though many of the producers in his area got a second cutting, the season started late and supplies are low.

Logan said that producers in his area might offset low supplies by planting winters pastures, but unless his area gets more rain they will just be wasting seed in dry ground.

“It’s bad. I don’t know what we’re going to do,” Logan said.

North of Dallas, the answer to “Got hay?” would be, “Yes and no,” said Rick Maxwell, AgriLife Extension agent for Collin County.

“No, we are short of high quality grass hay,” Maxwell said, “but a lot of producers are baling up corn stalks, so I imagine we’ll be okay.”

Maxwell noted that though supplies of corn stalk hay will be plentiful, it is low on energy and protein compared to grass hay. Producers will have to feed more of it and add supplements, but he believes most will get through the winter without having to bale hay.

In his area, rains have been hit and miss, with only some areas getting enough moisture for another cutting.

AgriLife Extension district reporters compiled the following summaries:

PANHANDLE: Temperatures were below average with scattered showers. A cool front dropped nighttime temperatures into the mid 40s, setting a record low for August. Soil moisture varied from short to surplus with most areas reporting adequate levels. Corn was in mostly good condition. Cotton was in mostly fair condition, but needed more heat units. Sorghum was in fair to good condition. Producers were either preparing wheat fields for planting or had already planted them. Rangeland and pastures were mostly in fair condition. Cattle were in good condition.

CENTRAL: High aflatoxin levels became more prevalent in corn. Cotton looked very good. Sunflower yields were very good, but pastures badly needed rain. Hay producers were hoping for a third cutting, but without rain soon, that won’t happen. Stocker operators sold off most of their calves as soon as the grass played out. Some cow-calf operators had already weaned and sold calves.

COASTAL BEND: Hot and humid weather persisted. Heat stress continued to be an issue for both humans and livestock. The corn harvest came to a close with the best yields in years in the northern part of the district. Quite a bit of grain sorghum was left in the field and was cased out for insurance due to head sprouting. However, later-planted sorghum had good yields. The cotton harvest was ongoing with very good yields reported. Some producers began preparing land for winter plantings. Hay producers were taking a third cutting and, in some instances, a fourth.

EAST: No measurable rain was received during the reporting period. Because of the extreme heat and dry weather, many counties posted burn bans. Forage growth in pastures came to a halt in most areas and slowed in others. Producers were searching out-of-area for hay to buy. Some producers made preparations for winter pastures but will need rain before proceeding further. Grasshoppers and armyworms were still being reported. Feral-hog activity slowed in some areas, but the invasive species continued to cause damage throughout the region. Livestock were in fair to good condition.

FAR WEST: A cool front brought scattered rainfall with accumulations of 0.2 inch to 5 inches to the region, but many parts of the region remained dry. Cotton may not have enough moisture to fill bolls. Area ranchers were worried about wildfires in rangeland. A rainy spring resulted in a lot of dry grass for fuel in the pastures. Grass was heading out and beginning to cure. Spider mites were reported in some dryland cotton fields.

NORTH: Soil-moisture levels ranged from very short to adequate. Several days of temperatures above 100 degrees took a toll on grain crops and pastures.

The corn harvest was nearly complete with yields below earlier expectations.

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