Released June 10, 2009
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Hail accompanied intense thunderstorms and winds as high as 80 mph in parts of the Texas High Plains, but it's too early to assess how many cotton and corn acres were damaged, according to a Texas AgriLife Extension Service agronomist.
"There was an area, more or less a triangle-shaped area from Ropesville up to north of Levelland and on down to Brownfield (west of Lubbock) that received some damage," said Randy Boman, AgriLife Extension cotton agronomist, Lubbock. "I'm sure it would be good for the dryland cotton, but the hail unfortunately affected some of the irrigated stands in that particular area."
Boman said there were also reports of hail near Muleshoe in Parmer County (northwest of Lubbock), but that reports of the number of acres damaged were still pending.
"But its my understanding that there was some irrigated cotton that was hailed out up there," he said.
Boman said hail can cause a lot of defoliation, but that a young crop can often recover. "Typically, this time of year what I try to do is encourage producers to keep those plants if they've got pretty healthy root systems and adequate density and distribution of plants," Boman said. "Stands can get damaged by these weather events, or perhaps even major wind events, but it will be a little while before we can sort all that out and make some kind of determination."
Boman has coauthored "Making Replant Decisions in Cotton." The guide can be found online at http://lubbock.tamu.edu/cotton/pdf/makingreplantdecisions07.pdf or at an AgriLife Extension county office. A directory of AgriLife Extension county offices can be found at http://agrilifeextension.tamu.edu/county/.
The biggest issue, at least for dryland cotton, remains lack of moisture, Boman said.
"These thunderstorms are just popping up and really not giving us a good region-wide rainfall," he said. The hail also likely damaged Texas High Plains corn, Boman said. "Corn can typically handle somewhat more hail than seedling cotton," he said. "It can get ragged up pretty badly and still come back and produce."
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http://agnews.tamu.edu/showstory.php?id=1247
Writer: Robert Burns, 903-834-6191, rd-burns@tamu.edu
