By Julie Tomascik
Editor
Torrential rainfall and subsequent flooding from Tropical Storm Imelda has left Southeast Texas farmers facing another tough harvest season.
Farmers like Richard Beyer still had cotton in the field when the storm hit.
“We still had about one third of the total cotton crop in the field when the storm hit,” Beyer, a Matagorda County Farm Bureau member, said. “We had anywhere from seven to 10 inches of rain on our farms, depending on the location. A few miles down the road they had over 12 inches.”
Further to the southeast, even more rain fell.
Imelda dropped more than 41 inches in some areas, according to reports. It’s a reminder of Hurricane Harvey, which dumped more than 50 inches of water on parts of Southeast Texas two years ago.
The storms and torrential rainfall are all-too-familiar for area farmers, who were racing to get their crops out of the field before Mother Nature delivered another blow.
“This is consistent with how we’ve been the past few years. We get about two-thirds of the cotton crop picked and then get hit with a tropical storm, depression, hurricane or monsoonal rains,” Beyer said. “We’ve been dealing with this for several years, so we know we’ll have reduction in yield. Quality will also go down quite a bit, and unfortunately, the markets aren’t very friendly right now. The price of cotton is down. Anytime you have issues with quality, that translates into a lower price. It makes it tough, really tough.”
John Gaulding still had rice in the field as the rain began to fall.
Preliminary data shows more than 40 inches of rain fell as of Thursday night in the North Fork of Taylor’s Bayou in Jefferson County. And that runs right through Gaulding’s farm.
This is the third consecutive year of more than 100 inches of rain in the area, Gaulding said. Normal rainfall in Jefferson County and neighboring counties average around 50 inches annually.
Imelda was another tough hit after farmers were delayed during planting due to heavy winter and spring rains.
“In a given year, if markets are doing well, I can fight the weather. And if the weather does well, I can fight the markets,” Beyer said. “But it’s hard for any farmer to fight the weather and the market in the same year. But that’s what’s happening this year.”
Beyer and Gaulding, like so many other Southeast Texas farmers, will wait for the sun to shine and fields to dry out.
They’ll finish harvesting their crops and hope for the best.
Gov. Greg Abbott issued an emergency declaration for several counties Thursday.
Texas Animal Health Commission also has tips for all livestock and animal owners impacted by Imelda.