Last week’s storms brought a lot to the region both good and bad. On one hand they brought tornadoes, large hail and damaging winds but on the other they also delivered our farmers rain just in time for planting season.
Shawn Wade, Director of Policy Analysis and Research at Plains Cotton Growers, told us, “Which should start anywhere within the next 4 to 5 weeks. Late April to early May. Rainfall now is really something that we’re looking forward to and through the next couple of months because that’s what is going to set us up to get this crop off to a very good start.”
The rainfall really does two things this time of year. It puts moisture in the ground and keeps the soil cool. The cooler soil is a bit of a trade off because farmers need the soil to be warmer for planting.
He explained, “So as we get a little bit further into spring daytime temperatures stay a little bit warmer and night time temperatures start to come up a little bit, those soil temperatures will kind of stabilize and get up to that sixty degree level, that would be really the target that we would be looking for to plant cotton.”
Farmers have already been out in the field this year beginning their field work.
Wade said, “We’re putting out fertilizers and putting out pre-emergent herbicides and doing just a lot of prep work getting ready for the planting season.”
That rainfall again plays a crucial role in the prep work but farmers know the risk of farming in this area.
He told us, “I think anytime during the spring in West Texas you know, we have the possibility of having a thunderstorm come through that can bring really high winds, down burst type winds or even straight line winds, hail or even just heavy heavy rainfall.”
It’s weather like that that wade said they always hope holds off in the crop’s early stages of growth.
