Prior to the rains this week, 90% of Texas was covered in drought, with West Texas and the Panhandle under the most severe conditions. More than 3 inches of rain fell in Muleshoe, while Lubbock recorded 0.82 inches.
Plainview producer Steve Olson said more chances of rain were in the forecast.
“It totally changed the game for us,” he told Farm Journal. “I absolutely believe it saved some of our crop. At least we have a chance to produce a crop now, while before there was no hope.”
“Hopefully this moisture will aid planted fields and help those waiting on moisture to get planters going,” Murilo Maeda, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Cotton Specialist-Lubbock, reported in the latest AgFax newsletter. “Across Texas, growers have continued to make progress.
The latest USDA crop progress report indicates 44% of cotton acres planted, up from 30% last week.
The recent rains eased some of the more exceptional and extreme drought conditions in the PCG region.