COLLEGE STATION — Though most dryland crops have failed because of the drought in the state, there were scattered pockets of production, according to a Texas AgriLife Extension Service expert.

“There will be some dryland crops harvested in Texas,” said Travis Miller, AgriLife Extension program leader and associate department head of the Texas A&M University soil and crop sciences department. “The best areas are going to be from Corpus (Christi) north to Victoria and along the coast a little ways and then from Hill County north and east.”

Miller predicted cotton yields in the area from Corpus Christi to Victoria will be in the 350- to 400-pound per-acre range. Sorghum yields were reported as being in the 3,000- to 3,700-pound range, while corn yields were about 35 to 40 bushels per acre.

But the situation varied widely not just from one region to another, but also county to county, he said.

“If you get a little farther north, say to Matagorda County, they just missed those rains and there’s some 25- to 30-bushel corn,” Miller said. “Then Hill County and to the north had some pretty good rains. I think there was some 75-bushel corn and I believe there will be 3,800-pound to 4,000-pound sorghum.

“With the current price scenario, they can probably do a little better than break even on that.”

But for most of the state, the dryland situation was just plain dismal, he said.

From Uvalde (South Central Texas) north to Spearman (the upper Panhandle), nearly all dryland crops have failed, he said.

There is not going to be much of anything harvested on dryland fields in the southwest Texas area, the Edwards Plateau, the Rolling Plains and the High Plains.

It almost looks desert-like, he said.

“You can’t even tell they planted anything,” Miller said.

West Central

Weather conditions were unchanged. Days were extremely hot, dry and windy with no rain forecast.

Most of the region’s crops were in dryland and all failed. Almost all sorghum was abandoned, and hay was in very short supply. Rangeland and pastures further declined.

Water sources were drying up. Producers continued to reduce herds. Some were selling out entirely. Pecans did not look good.

North

Soil-moisture levels were short throughout the region. Triple-digit temperatures continued to take a toll on every aspect of agriculture.

Crops were burning up. Pastures were going downhill fast. Some ranchers continued to provide supplemental feed or hay, but most were thinning or liquidating herds.

Hay prices spiked and supplies were short. Extra hay may be needed to make it through the winter if rain is not received soon.

In some areas, the stock ponds were getting very low. The corn harvest just began, but there were no reports of yields to date. There were reports of high aflatoxin levels in harvested corn.

The oat harvest was completed and sunflower planting was finished. Rangeland was in poor condition, but there was some cutting of Johnson grass. Forage production was dismal.

South Plains

Parts of the district received as much as 5 inches of rain. But most of the region remained dry, with only spotty showers and temperatures in the upper 90s to 100s. Winds were moderate.

Some corn was being harvested early for silage because irrigation systems could not meet the crop’s water demands. Some cotton growers opted to abandon half of pivot circles to concentrate the available water on the other half in hopes of making some crop rather than none.

More details are at the AgriLife Extension Agricultural Drought Task Force website at http://agrilife.tamu.edu/drought/.