Texas crop conditions vary widely as the summer growing season nears its end. Extreme drought is damaging crops in several regions, while excess rain and cloudy skies are creating problems elsewhere.
Experts with the Texas A&M Department of Soil and Crop Sciences report that drought is lowering yields and increasing irrigation demands across much of Texas. Meanwhile, wet weather is affecting rice production along the Gulf Coast.
Much of the Texas cotton crop is struggling under drought conditions.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, 93% of Texas is experiencing at least early-stage drought. More than 35% of the state is under severe drought conditions or worse. That percentage increased by 8 points during the previous week and was 25 points higher than at the same time last year.
Drought can reduce irrigation supplies, crop yields, pasture production and livestock weights. In addition, producers may face more insects, crop diseases and higher irrigation demands. Dry conditions can also lead to declining water tables and lower water levels in ponds, creeks and playa lakes. As a result, livestock producers may need to begin supplemental feeding earlier than usual.
Coastal Bend completes cotton harvest
The Coastal Bend has been one of the brighter spots for Texas crop production this season. Good spring rainfall provided enough soil moisture to carry corn, sorghum and cotton through most of July. Therefore, those crops avoided significant moisture stress during much of the growing season.
Josh McGinty is an AgriLife Extension agronomist and assistant professor at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Corpus Christi. According to McGinty, the region is completing its cotton harvest with relatively few problems. Hot, dry weather during August helped producers harvest cotton. However, the region needs rain soon to restore soil moisture before spring planting.
Drought damages High Plains crops
The High Plains remained under severe drought conditions throughout much of August and September. Minimal rainfall, extreme heat and strong winds caused conditions to decline, according to Kevin Heflin, an AgriLife Extension agronomist and assistant professor at the Texas A&M AgriLife High Plains Research and Extension Center in Canyon.
Sorghum and other summer crops suffered sharply lower yields in irrigated fields. Meanwhile, some dryland acres experienced complete crop failure. During periods of temperatures above 100 degrees, crops required as much as one-half inch of water per day. Consequently, scattered rainfall offered little relief for severely stressed summer forage crops.
Late-season moisture stress can also cause incomplete pollination and reduce grain and biomass yields. For that reason, irrigation timing and rainfall are especially important for Panhandle producers with limited water supplies.
Stressed sorghum poses livestock risk
Drought-stressed forage sorghum can create an additional concern for livestock producers. Young, stressed or frost-damaged sorghum can accumulate dangerous amounts of prussic acid, also known as cyanide.
Producers should delay grazing or greenchopping stressed forage sorghum or have the crop tested before feeding it to livestock. Other common problems among the region’s 2026 summer crops include lodging, blasted heads, wind damage, delayed maturity and reduced yields.
Rolling Plains crops struggle
High temperatures and limited rainfall also increased stress on cotton and peanuts in the Texas Rolling Plains. Evapotranspiration reached about 2.5 inches per week during July and August before declining to approximately 2 inches per week in September.
Emi Kimura, an AgriLife Extension agronomist and professor at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Vernon, reported on the region’s crop conditions. Evapotranspiration includes water lost through soil evaporation and moisture released by plants. Although weekly demand has declined, soil moisture continues to disappear without significant rainfall.
A U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency report showed widespread crop losses. As of Sept. 11, producers had declared approximately 10% of Texas’ 3.7 million reported dryland crop acres as failed.
Wet weather affects Texas rice
While much of Texas needs rain, some rice-growing areas have received too much moisture. Texas typically produces a main rice crop followed by a second crop known as a ratoon crop. The main harvest is now complete, but producers reported slightly below-average yields and milling results.
Sam Rustom is an AgriLife Extension agronomist and assistant professor at Eagle Lake and the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Beaumont. He attributed the lower results partly to rain and cloudy weather during pollination.
The ratoon crop is developing, but some parts of the Texas rice belt are experiencing weak regrowth. Wet and cloudy conditions during the main crop’s reproductive stages likely contributed to apical dominance.
Apical dominance occurs when new rice shoots grow from the upper or middle sections of the plant rather than from stronger sections near the base. Growth from the upper and middle sections usually produces smaller grain clusters. As a result, producers may see lower yields and reduced grain quality.
Rice pest remains a concern
Rice delphacid remains the leading pest concern for Texas rice producers. Although pest pressure has been relatively mild in 2026, the insect has appeared in most rice-producing counties across the Texas rice belt.
Activity has increased slightly during recent weeks. Fortunately, beneficial and predatory insects are helping limit the damage. Still, producers should continue monitoring their fields because rice delphacid populations can increase quickly as ratoon rice reaches its heading and grain-filling stages.
Wheat growers face seed shortage
Texas wheat producers are entering planting season with dry soil and limited seed supplies. Seed dealers report that supplies are only 60% to 70% of normal levels because of poor growing conditions during the 2026 wheat crop.
Brandon Gerrish is an AgriLife Extension statewide small grains specialist and assistant professor in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences. He reported that planting conditions also remain unfavorable across much of Texas. Some areas have received isolated rainfall, but high temperatures have caused that moisture to disappear quickly.
Producers who plan to graze wheat are the most eager to begin planting. In contrast, farmers growing wheat primarily for grain can wait several more weeks. That additional time may allow temperatures to cool and rainfall to improve soil moisture before planting begins.
