I want to show you something

Look at the pics below. See all of those fields? Normally by this time of the year those fields are 3-4 feet high if not higher in sorghum, cotton, soybeans, corn and others. This year many farmers couldn't get out to plant until the planting season was almost over due to the rains. Then we got a break and farmers rushed out to get a crop in before the cutoff for crop insurance. However many of those fields were still too wet for too many farmers and they missed the cutoff. They still planted when they could, but now they had no crop insurance in case the crop failed or mother nature came to call again. And she did.

I've seen fields like this all over this part of Texas. Flooded, half planted, washed out. I saw a farmer I know attempting to plant for the 4th time this year. All three of his previous attempts have been washed away by the rains and the flooding.

He cannot NOT put in a crop. He just can't afford to. He already knows that he won't make any money out of whatever crop he does get, but if he doesn't have something to harvest, he will lose his farm. That is how tight the conditions and margins are, that many farmer's are operating under.

I know of two local farmers who have given up and are trying to sell their land, on the hope they can lease it back to farm in the future, but they just don't have the money or the credit to buy seed AGAIN.  I know of a few more who  have forgone cotton, soybeans and sorghum, and instead are planting hay.  At least hay will grow some under these conditions.

Up north, the Rice fields are also taking a beating.  Rice? You say, it grows under water.  Yes, but it can't take root and grow under rushing flood waters which is what we've had.  And there are a lot of rice fields that have been planted then replanted.  And we are expecting more rains this coming week.

Two of the local cattle farmers have had the local vets out several times.  Hoof Rot is starting to lame a lot of cows.  Plus the insects just LOVE this wet mucky morass for laying eggs.  The vet bills as I understand it, have more than tripled.

All of these things are interconnected.  Farmers pay more for "X", which means we have to pay "Y" much more for any product or food which uses what the farmer's produce.

I know several farmers who have had to replant and they have had to repair their equipment more, because the muck bogs down planters, and plows, and parts and machinery gets broken trying do get the job done.  Increased fuel usage, having to plant the same fields two and in some cases three times.

So when you go to the grocery store and the meat costs more than it did just a few days or weeks ago, when you go to get flour, or rice, or any product that uses sorghum as an ingredient, or even go to buy cotton clothing.

Don't be surprised if those costs have gone up either.

It's not the Eeebil Corporations gouging the customer.

It's the farmers just trying to pay the pills when Mother Nature doesn't cooperate.


And this coming week.

We have more rain predicted.