LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – Cotton crops in south Lubbock are struggling after a winter with little rain and an even drier summer.
Farmer Thomas Kennedy said the lack of moisture has made recent growing seasons difficult.
“But the past couple years, August has just been brutally, brutally hot. And without that underground season of any moisture, this cotton around here really doesn’t stand a chance,” Kennedy said.
Rainfall drives yields
Kennedy said his livelihood depends on the weather.
“Without supplemental rain, the yields will suffer drastically even with irrigation. So, rainfall is the name of the game for us,” Kennedy said.
The USDA predicts almost 300,000 fewer bales than the 2025 crop.
Farm bill changes ease planning
Kennedy said recent changes to the farm bill and the use of crop insurance have made it easier to plan for next season.
“We fertilized everything and really put it all in, even though it looked like it would be kind of a risk to take that way. But with some of the safety nets that we have now, we feel like that’s something that we can risk,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy is a fourth-generation farmer. He said faith is what keeps him going.
“But if you don’t have faith that the weather will change, that we can have a crop, then you really don’t need to farm at all. Because you can’t make your decisions just based on what could or couldn’t happen weather-wise,” Kennedy said.
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