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Thanksgiving Rains Bring Hope For Winter Pastures

published: November 28th 2011
by: Robert Burns
source: Texas AgriLife

COLLEGE STATION — Rain came to large parts of Texas, an early Thanksgiving feast for already planted winter pastures, according to Texas AgriLife Extension Service personnel.

Though welcome, the rain came too late for drought-hammered summer pastures, many of which are in sad shape, according to AgriLife Extension county agent reports.

For example, before the rain, Pasquale Swaner, AgriLife Extension agent for Falls County, near Waco, reported that while “driving throughout the county, pastures are the worse than anyone can imagine. A large portion are just grazed to dirt.”

However, the rain will certainly help winter pastures, and eventually it will be good for warm-season pastures too, said Dr. Vanessa Corriher, AgriLife Extension forage specialist in East Texas.

“For pastures that have been grazed down, it’s going to take them a long time to recover,” Corriher said. “Most of those forages, our warm-season perennials, are going into dormancy as we get cooler temperatures. We’re not going to see any recovery until we get into spring.”

But for many of those producers who planted winter pastures earlier, the rains came just in time, she said.