CORPUS CHRISTI (Kiii News) — You might think last week's rains are something area farmers are happy about, but it turns out the rain came at the wrong time -- for sorghum farmers in particular.
Sorghum is a grain that produces a seed mostly used for livestock feed, but is also a substitute to make gluten-free products. When it comes to tending the crop, according to Extension Agent Jason Ott it's not about how much water the grain gets, but it's about when.
"The rainfall that we did get over the past week is probably a little too late to affect the grain crop in a very positive way," Ott said.
Ott said crops are almost ready to be harvested and that seed the sorghum grows must be dry in order to be useful. The same goes for cotton crops.
Unfortunately for some producers the rain soaked their crops and left their product unsalvageable, and that means money down the drain.
"An acre of grain sorghum total costs about $400 plus an acre to put in. Cotton is over $600 an acre to put in," Ott said.
Nueces County grows about 150,00 acres of grain sorghum a year, and about 100,000 acres of cotton.
While the rain may not have been beneficial to most crops, Ott said that it still does help livestock ranchers fill up their stock tanks and helping make grassy fields.
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