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Farmers express concerns about planting ahead of dry winter
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Farmers express concerns about planting ahead of dry winter

You won’t hear rain, rain, go in Texas right now, especially from farmers, as drought concerns and planting questions continue to grow.
“There’s a lot of dry anxiety going into the fall. Now we generally have time to build up soil moisture,” said Shane McLellan.

Shane McLellan is Texas A&M AG Life Extension’s Mclennan County Extension Agent.

He said any rain would help, but farmers needed a lot of rain.
Without this soil moisture, spring crops may be affected.

“Normally in October we expect about ten inches of rain and we are left without water,” McLellan said. “We’ve been dry most of the summer, too, so we’re behind. A lot of growers are looking at — you know — what am I going to do? Am I going to wait to plant my wheat because of the Hessian Fly? If they plant wheat right now, it’s just going to be dusted.”

As for your plants around your home, outdoor plants should still be in good shape even during a dry winter, said Clyde Colunga of Westview Nursery and Landscape Company. The important thing is to make sure your plants are watered either by Mother Nature or by you.

“You need water somehow, whether it rains or not. Plants need water somehow.” They know this firsthand because they plant year-round on the landscaping side, he adds, “That’s not a problem.”

All of Central Texas is still in drought.

Meteorologists said that rain was on the way, but it was not predictable whether there would be more heavy rain. They said the current outlook shows a drier than average winter.

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