YOUR TEXAS AGRICULTURE MINUTE

First to plant, put hope in the ground

By Gary Joiner
Publisher

It’s not always easy going first, but farmers in the Texas Rio Grande Valley are used to it. It comes with the territory. They are the first growers in the nation to plant. Their seeds of corn, cotton and grain sorghum are the first to hit the soil for another growing season.

As Rio Grande Valley farmer William Harrison posted on Twitter—“When you’ve got moisture and it won’t freeze, it’s time to roll!” His early January planting is corn.

It’s another year of hopeful expectations for Texas growers. Will Mother Nature be friend or foe? Will market prices be favorable or unfavorable?

Those are questions that cannot be answered while the planter is covering the ground. There are too many factors to count. Only time will tell whether this year’s crop is successful and profitable. But farmers do all they can to manage risks and pressures. It’s an ongoing challenge.

What’s being planted right now in the Valley is hope. Hope that careful soil preparation, precision technology and improved seed traits gives them an early head-start in the race that lies ahead.

A better 2020 crop year awaits at the finish line.

The preceding commentary is brought to you by Texas Farm Bureau, the “Voice of Texas Agriculture.” Called “Your Texas Agriculture Minute,” TFB will issue thought-provoking editorials each week—via print and audio—to spark understanding of agriculture in the Lone Star State and its impact on each and every Texan.

You may read this week’s editorial above or listen to the audio version.

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