POUNDING RAINS THREATEN TEXAS CROPS

July 28, 2007

Texas farmers still recovering from a two-year drought are now fighting to save their crops from the summer's torrential rains.

Although the mild spring weather should have meant a great year for farmers across South Texas into the Rio Grande Valley, an unusual amount of rain this summer has soaked fields, making it difficult to cut hay, harvest grain and pick watermelons and cantaloupes.

The weather has also caused some sorghum to mold or sprout, which lowers its value, the San Antonio Express-News reported Friday.

The National Weather Service said San Antonio is experiencing its second-wettest July on record with more than 11 inches of rainfall so far.

New Braunfels has recorded more than 16 inches of rain this month and Corpus Christi more than 17 inches.

There are a lot of worried farmers and bankers, Bobby Nedbalek, vice president of the Texas Farm Bureau, told the Express-News. You absolutely are sick to see the best grain crop you've ever had, and there's too much water in the field to harvest it.

The economic loss to the region's $2 billion industry is impossible to calculate until the crops are gathered, measured and assessed for quality.