Crop planting plans soggy, but secure
By BRENDA SOMMER bsommer@leader-news.com

STARTING TO SPROUT: Crops are just starting to show in county fields as planting continues between rains. L-N File Photo

Muddy fields have put farmers a bit behind on planting sorghum, but clear weather in the next couple of weeks could fix that problem in time.

Peter McGuill, Texas AgriLife Extension agricultural agent for Wharton County, said most farmers had dry enough fields to plant corn before recent rains.

"There may be a few fields here and there that haven't been planted, but for the most part, we've got the better portion of our corn planted," he said.

"It was actually drying out, and some seed was going in the ground during the last couple of days. Flatter fields and low fields have a problem, but fields that drain well or have sandy soils dried out pretty well."

He said some grain sorghum was planted before the last round of rain on March 10.

"But a lot of that we're still waiting to get in the ground," he said.

As of yesterday at 1 p.m., El Campo had received 2.14 inches of rain since the first of the month. During the same period last year, the city received 4.22 inches of precipitation, but planting was not hindered.

The National Weather Service predicts mostly sunny skies with highs in the 70s and lows in the 40s and 50s through Monday. Rain chances during that time are predicted to be no more than 20 percent.

Row crop farmers here plant in a particular order: corn, then sorghum, soybeans and lastly, cotton.

"We like to get sorghum in no later than the first part of April, so there's still time," McGuill said.

He said the big concern once sorghum is planted is that it get the proper type of rain as it's ready to sprout.

"When you plant it, it's not extremely vigorous," McGuill said. "When it comes out of the ground, if you get a packing rain - a hard rain that will pack that ground down - it can't push through that crust. Light rain is ideal, but that doesn't always happen."

Although rain has slowed down farmers, McGuill said so far, so good.

"It's not a problem now," he said. "But if the rain keeps going, we'll have some problems."