By Shelby Shank
Field Editor

Last year’s drought led many cotton farmers to abandon their fields, but Walter Kristinek is hopeful for a better cotton crop in 2023.

Kristinek farms 5,000 acres outside of Littlefield with his son where they mostly grow cotton, but occasionally plant milo and corn.

Kristinek grew up growing cotton with his dad, following in his footsteps by raising his own kids on the farm. Now, Kristinek farms with one of his sons and has been able to expand his operation using modern technology and equipment.

“GPS changed our farming completely, and it’s really been a blessing,” Kristinek said. “The way we’re trying to farm now, it works really well for us.”

The technology and newer equipment help Kristinek plant and harvest more efficiently.

But new technology unfortunately cannot control the weather.

In 2022, despite all the work farmers did, a record number of cotton acres were abandoned due to the ongoing drought

Last year’s rainfall was spotty, and it wasn’t enough to grow a crop, Kristinek said.

With 12 inches of rain total in 2022, he dry planted most of his cotton and irrigated some of the fields just to get the crop started.

“We don’t need a whole lot of rain, but we need it at the right time. And that’s the big thing here, and that’s why West Texas works,” Kristinek said.

The dry atmosphere was tough on many farmers, and the occasional moisture didn’t leave farmers with much hope a seed would sprout.

“We plant no matter what the weather condition is,” Kristinek said. “We kind of made a crop out here last year, but we should have let it go. That’s the deal about farmers, we want to grow something.”

Texas cotton farmers were hanging on by a thread last year, but this year’s wet spring is weaving optimism for Kristinek and others.

“We always ask when we’re going to have a normal year. But you know what, I finally decided there’s not a normal year here,” Kristinek said. “Most of the time, we’re just dry planting and running seed into dirt. This year, it’s been good because it’s been wet, and I feel really good about it this time.”

Watch a video from Kristinek’s farm.