Texas farmers feeling the heat

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) - Several triple-digit temperatures this summer have caused many farmers to have little to no harvest this year.

Similar to last year, this has been a hot and dry summer for crops with barely any rainfall.

“We just kind of sat here and baked all summer but hopefully there is an end in sight somewhere down the road” Farmer, Mark Brockreide said.

“The summer has been pretty rough and been pretty tough on us. We were optimistic at first because we were getting some good showers and cotton had a lot of opportunity. Of course, we have gotten 115, 117 degrees heat just day after day and of course, the cotton plant still tries to survive but as you can tell, it’s throwing off all its fruit” Brockreide said.

The time for cotton to grow to its full potential is done and for many farmers, there were either poor yields or none due to the heat.

Farmers across Texas say the crops are shedding their fruit because they have no moisture and the soil is dry.

“It’s turned into a really rough year, we had some good spring rains and then it just quit, and boy our crops, it’s just been a rough year,” Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Agent, David Graf said.

“We had some fields that were okay and some that were not worth harvesting, they are going to be significantly lower than normal. The taller cotton that we have is probably not going to have any, it’s just not enough moisture for it to develop,” Graf said.

With summer crops coming to an end and no rain in sight, winter crops like wheat are what farmers are hoping will do better.

“Just hope to get some rains and be able to get some wheat in the ground,” Brockreide said.

This year has been one of the hottest years on record.

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