LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – Cotton crops in south Lubbock are struggling after a winter with little rain and an even drier summer.<\/p>\n
Farmer Thomas Kennedy said the lack of moisture has made recent growing seasons difficult.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut 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\u2019t stand a chance,\u201d Kennedy said.<\/p>\n
Rainfall drives yields<\/p>\n
Kennedy said his livelihood depends on the weather.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout supplemental rain, the yields will suffer drastically even with irrigation. So, rainfall is the name of the game for us,\u201d Kennedy said.<\/p>\n
The USDA predicts almost 300,000 fewer bales than the 2025 crop.<\/p>\n
Farm bill changes ease planning<\/p>\n
Kennedy said recent changes to the farm bill and the use of crop insurance have made it easier to plan for next season.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe 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\u2019s something that we can risk,\u201d Kennedy said.<\/p>\n
Kennedy is a fourth-generation farmer. He said faith is what keeps him going.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut if you don\u2019t have faith that the weather will change, that we can have a crop, then you really don\u2019t need to farm at all. Because you can\u2019t make your decisions just based on what could or couldn\u2019t happen weather-wise,\u201d Kennedy said.<\/p>\n
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