Holiday weekend rain brings early crops, happy farmers on South Plains

May 28--You might get some good vibes at your local farmers cooperative.

Rain showers from the past few days boosted crop fields all over the South Plains, and gave their owners some big grins to match.

"It's great -- it came at a very good time," said Kelly Kettner, who grows multiple commodities near Muleshoe.

Kettner's fields received about 4 inches of precipitation. He just watched his corn emerge and is looking forward to seeing his cotton do the same.

At the Texas A&M AgriLife research station north of Lubbock, grain sorghum seeds planted barely a week ago have sprouted and emerged to an inch tall.

AgriLife agronomist Calvin Trostle said without much runoff, the moisture will soak well into the ground, significantly improving the soil profile. Whether farmers wish to plant any seeds they haven't already depends on insurance deadlines and personal preference.

"Farmers have a chance now to get their dryland cotton planted into moisture, and for other crops that will also be grown dryland like grain sorghum, sunflower, sesame (and) summer forages, they have a decision to make about whether to go ahead and plant now or wait for a June rain," he said.

Most irrigated cotton has already been in the ground, with pivot systems now taking a break.

Jeff Harrell of Hale County, for instance, is pleased with the rain's effects on the cotton he planted three weeks ago. He's ready to plant the rest on non-irrigated acres as soon as the mud dries in his fields west of Plainview.

"We've got some irrigated crop that's already looking good," he said. "It's a blessing to get a rain."

That northern part of A-J Media's coverage area received between 4 and 6 inches of precipitation during the holiday weekend.

And those showers were of the extra-good variety, said John Villalba.

Villalba, agriculture agent for Swisher County, estimates 70 percent of cotton in his area was already planted before showers arrived. He noted an absence of hail and strong winds that could have damaged those new seedlings.

"It was a nice, slow, steady rain for the last four days. We were very blessed," he said. "Those plants are going to have a pretty good start. This happened absolutely perfect for us."

Lubbock County received a small amount of hail near 98th Street -- but nothing close to what it would take to offset the showers' advantages -- said agriculture agent Mark Brown.

"The rains, for the most part, were very beneficial," he said. "I think these producers are really feeling blessed."

And more rain would be even better -- one pleasantly wet weekend is certainly not enough to conclude four years of drought. But then again, you've got to start somewhere.

Villalba noted drought-breaking rains contain a psychological component that boosts farmers' spirits along with their crops.

"It makes everybody think a little bit more positively," he said. "We've still got a ways to go with as far behind as we've been, but we'll take what we can get."

josephine.musico@lubbockonline.com

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