By Shala Watson
Staff Writer
Fall has arrived. But in typical Texas style, the hot temperatures are still hanging on.
The Texas summer, however, brought some surprises for farmers and ranchers. An abundant amount of moisture fell from the Panhandle down to South Texas, and August had record-setting rainfall.
It was timely and well-received. And Texas forage conditions benefited from the mild summer.
“Definitely this summer has been a little different than what we’ve experienced in the last couple of years,” Tracy Tomascik, Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) associate director of Commodity and Regulatory Activities, told the TFB Radio Network. “I think most farmers and ranchers across the state are seeing better forage conditions than what they would have expected if you would have talked to them back in June of this year.”
There are very few abnormally dry regions in the state, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
Livestock have plenty of grazing and are remaining in overall good condition, and Tomascik noted that’s a reflection of our pasture conditions.
“The moisture has been wonderful,” Tomascik said. “Large hay crops have been harvested. There is plenty of grazing to go around starting at the Panhandle and all the way to the South Texas-Valley area. This is a pretty good situation if you have livestock out on pasture right now.”
But there are still concerns ranchers and livestock owners should be aware of.
“Even though we’ve had extremely good rainfall over the last month or two across the state, water levels are not extremely high in some stock tanks,” he said. “There’s the real possibility that livestock could wander out to cool off on these hotter days and potentially get stuck in those tanks.”
Armyworm infestations are also wreaking havoc in Central and South Texas on these good grazing conditions, according to Tomascik.
And the upcoming rainy weekend forecast may give armyworm populations a boost.
“Hopefully, we’ll have some more mild conditions as we start off fall and make life just a little more enjoyable outside,” Tomascik said.