With extremely high winds across West Texas all day, both city residents and farmers are feeling the side effects. Michael White, the Resource Team Leader at the United States Department of Agriculture in Lubbock said a lot of people in the city don’t know the effect these dust storms have on farmers.
“There are a lot of things people don’t know about this type of weather and what it does to the farmers. That dust blowing is hitting the farmers in their back pocket,” said White.
White said farmers try their best to stop the wind erosion from happening but sometimes it can become impossible.
“When you start seeing the top soil or dust pile up you know it’s getting bad. They do a lot of things to control the wind erosion during that time. They use cover crops in winter, like wheat or rye and make sure they have their land bedded up to help make sure they can help with wind erosion,” said White.
But White said the dust storms Lubbock sees today are nothing compared to the past and it is thanks to all the advancements in agriculture technology.
“There has been a history of this type of weather a lot worse than what it is now. I remember years ago when street lights would come on mid day because it’s been so dark. Farmers are very innovative and they are smart and have helped with advancements in conservation efforts. It’s not near as bad as what it used to be,” said White.
Wind erosion season starts in November and ends around April.
