Drought

• By Christine Souza • Editor’s note: This article is excerpted from the Ag Alert April 7, 2021, issue. To read the article in its entirety, go to www.agalert.com/archive/. With all signs pointing to a critically dry year in California, farmers...

The State Water Project and the Bureau of Reclamation, which operates the Central Valley Project, have both announced reductions in water deliveries for the 2021 season south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. They base their allocations on current...

e3 Sustainable Cotton Farmers Receive Additional Rewards BASF recently launched the e3 Sustainable Cotton Grower Fund, a unique effort to provide additional economic support for cotton farmers in the e3 Sustainable Cotton program who commit to growing sustainable cotton. Brands, retailers,...

In 2022, it will have been 100 years since my great grandpaw, Gotleib Voigt, moved up here from Central Texas and bought some land on the South Plains. I am the fourth generation to farm the home place. Our family...

Based on  below-average statewide snowpack, the Bureau of Reclamation recently announced reduced water allocations for nearly all Central Valley Project water contractors. Deliveries could change depending on precipitation received during the next few months, said Ernest Conant, Reclamation regional...

Above average temperatures are exacerbating drier-than-normal conditions around the state, said the state’s climatologist. Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service reports and experts say the hot, dry conditions are taking a toll on soil moisture levels and crops in areas that...

A regional native and nationally prominent researcher in plant breeding has been hired as the director of the Semi-Arid Agricultural Systems Institute at West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas. Dr. Craig Bednarz, an Idalou native, began May 1 in...

Uncertainty surrounding the spread of coronavirus has Texas cotton producers in limbo regarding their crop options for 2020, according to a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service expert. Dr. John Robinson, AgriLife Extension cotton marketing specialist, College Station, said cotton prices...

Beginning in April, the National Cotton Council will be encouraging this nation’s cotton producers to enroll in the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol. Why is full participation important? More than 200 U.S. cotton producers enrolled in the NCC’s Trust Protocol pilot phase,...

During 2019, the National Cotton Council worked closely with the Administration and Congress to advance passage of a meaningful disaster recovery package. What were some major NCC actions? ■ The NCC strongly advocated for legislation to provide relief and recovery assistance...

Drier than normal conditions this winter could be a harbinger for a hotter-than-normal summer if future weather patterns fail to deliver moisture. As Texas A&M AgriLife Extension district reporters compiled district summaries, many showed dry winter conditions. Texas A&M AgriLife...

Recent passage of a Congressional act may bring relief to farmers who experienced crop losses due to drought in 2018 and 2019. In December 2019, Congress passed the FY2020 Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, making crop production losses due to...

• By Seshadri Ramkuma • Yields in the High Plains of Texas are expected to be below what was originally forecast. “Yields are 25% to 30% off the normal,” said Mark Brown, director of field services for Lubbock, Texas-based Plains Cotton...

Widespread drought continues in Alabama, as nearly 84% of the state is in severe drought. In fact, 55% of the state’s soil and subsoil moisture is reported to be “very short.” Even with these conditions, producers are still hard at...

While it seems Georgia is finally seeing a break from the summer heat, the long hot summer, including a record-setting September, has already caused problems for many Georgia farmers. With almost no rain during September, drought conditions expanded across the...