BISHOP, Tx — Recent rainfall has produced only a few inches, and farmers said they are grateful, but their crops need more water.
“If farming is going good, usually the economy is doing good, and if it does bad, usually the economy does bad,” James Faske, a Bishop farmer, said.
Faske has been in the farming industry since he can remember, he said it runs in his family.
Faske added farming does not only play a big role in Texas, but across the country.
Faske, along with family grows sorghum, cotton, wheat, and more.
“Cotton-wise, we are treating for bugs and giving it some foliar feed. We just got some recent rain, which is really kind of helping it out, and corn is not very far away where Milo is; probably in two to three weeks, we are probably looking at harvesting corn as well,” Faske said.
Faske said although it rained last week, farmers are in desperate need of some widespread rain since certain areas didn’t get any rain.
“Luckily we were very fortunate in parts of Nueces County, we got beneficial rains last Friday, one inch to one inch and a half,” Faske said. “A lot of parts where we have some fields we didn’t any, or very little, so that area needs some rain.”
Faske said the lack of rain can end up affecting the crops.
“It will affect our yields big time the longer you go without moisture, no matter what you do, if you have the best cotton seed, the best fertilizer, whatever you want to do, if it doesn’t rain, it isn’t going to matter,” Faske said. “Everything needs water, just like we need water to live. The plants need it as well.”
Faske said that while they will continue to wait for some desperate rain, as hurricane season approaches, they will need to monitor that as well.
“Rain helps you during the growing season, but rain will really hurt you at the wrong times during harvest. Sprouted grain which causes damage in your crop, which would make our price less and you wouldn’t get as much for it,” Faske said.
Faske said he knows, after being a farmer for years, he can’t control the weather, so he recommends farmers all over the coastal bend to stay prepared.
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