By Emmy Powell
Communications Specialist<\/p>\n
Rainfall across parts of Texas is creating challenges for hay producers, delaying harvest and, in some cases, affecting hay quality despite strong forage growth.<\/p>\n
Cade Richmond, owner of Cade Richmond Hay, Land and Cattle, said the season in Comanche County started off promising.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe grass came off for the first cutting in mid-May and looked pretty promising,\u201d Richmond said. \u201cBut the rainfall has been just over the top, and that has now made for difficulty getting the crop out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many farmers have abundant forage, but frequent rain showers have limited opportunities to get into the field and harvest hay at the ideal stage of maturity.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout the time we get our operation going, then we have to shut down for a rain,\u201d he said. \u201cWe started strong, but we\u2019ve had so many rain delays since then that it has really backed us up.\u201d<\/p>\n
The delays can affect quality.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe try our very best to bale our hay every 30 to 35 days,\u201d Richmond, who grows Bermudagrass, said. \u201cBecause of the rain delays, that\u2019s extended out. So, the quality may sometimes be challenged, but we\u2019re doing our very best.\u201d<\/p>\n
Farmers across much of the state have had a strong first cutting.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere will be a large supply on this first cutting,\u201d he said. \u201cEverybody that was out there fertilizing and managing pests will have a very good first cutting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pest concerns
Weather isn\u2019t the only challenge this season. Farmers and ranchers are also watching for insect pressure.<\/p>\n
Stem maggots are the primary concern for Richmond each growing season.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we do not spray preventatively for the stem maggot, it will affect our yield considerably,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Preventative management is key because once damage becomes visible, producers have few options.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, once you see that you have them, it\u2019s pretty much too late,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Another concern is the spread of pasture mealybugs<\/a>. According to Texas A&M AgriLife Extension<\/a>, detections have increased, and the pest has now been found in about 50 counties.<\/p>\n Armyworms and grasshoppers also remain on producers\u2019 radar throughout the summer, although Richmond said grasshoppers have not been a major issue this year due to wet conditions.<\/p>\n Regular scouting is essential, though, because pest populations can change quickly.<\/p>\n \u201cWe try to monitor them closely,\u201d he said. \u201cChecking your fields daily is not too much because things change rapidly.\u201d<\/p>\n Hay supplies \u201cBoth 2024 and 2025 were good years,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s been a lot of carryover from those two years even now into 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n Although drought conditions in South Texas reduced some of those reserves, producers who market square bales have generally maintained inventory.<\/p>\n Richmond noted hay sales have been slower in recent years due to mild winters and ample moisture, but that could change if colder or wetter weather develops later this year.<\/p>\n For now, producers are focused on taking advantage of every break in the weather.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s definitely been rain, rain, rain,\u201d Richmond said. \u201cWe\u2019re hopeful we\u2019ll get some weather that allows us to get this hay harvested and meet the demand when it comes.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Emmy PowellCommunications Specialist Rainfall across parts of Texas is creating challenges for hay producers, delaying harvest and,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":364032,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[70250,2385,27,29,28],"class_list":["post-364031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-hay","tag-rain","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=364031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364031\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/364032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=364031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=364031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=364031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Richmond said this year\u2019s hay outlook for much of the state remains favorable, thanks in part to carryover supplies from previous years.<\/p>\n