Farmers and ranchers around Comal County are taking a heavy blow as their crops struggle to grow and livestock food supplies run short in extreme drought conditions.
A light rain misted over a dehydrated Comal County Tuesday morning through the early afternoon. The National Weather Service recorded about a .06-inch fall, which officials say is not significant relief to farms and livestock in the area.
“It’s been drastic,” New Braunfels farmer Melvin Kreusler said. “No crops are growing and we’re getting close to the point of planting the new crops pretty soon. I’m not growing any grain crop.”
As of Feb. 10, drought conditions in Comal and several surrounding Central Texas counties were classified as “exceptional,” the most severe category recorded by the U.S. Drought Monitor.
The subsoil — the layer of dirt about 12 inches under the topsoil where plants root themselves — has seen almost no moisture during the drought, Comal County Extension Agent Glenn Avriett said.
“It’s very bleak,” Avriett said. “Farmers are having troubles planting and very little grew over the winter. The scattered rains we’ve seen are obviously welcome, but nobody has gotten what they need in terms of rainfall.”
He said a slow two-inch rain every two weeks would create relief for the parched subsoil.
Farmers said they have seen hardly any growth of the three main crops: wheat, grain sorghum and corn.
“There’s not even much we can do,” Kreusler said. “We just have to sit and wait until the good Lord lets it rain.”
Ranchers are affected by the drought, too. As they watch their livestock’s water well drain and their grazing pastures dry up in the Texas sun, Kreusler says they are having to sell cattle off.
“They’re running out of hay,” he said. “We’re really getting hit from all directions.”
National Weather Service Forecaster Bob Fogarty said the county might not see the specific rains which Avriett mentioned, but could be hit by something more steady.
“Long-range forecasts tend toward more normal rainfall,” Fogarty said. “During the winter we’re seeing a change in the Pacific which will bring us a more normal precipitation.”
