Winter Storm Delivered Minimal Southern Plains Crop Damage

Though it caused major disruptions to things like the energy grid and water systems, last week’s Arctic blast fortunately was not as hard on the southern Plains winter wheat crop. Thanks to a blanket of snow, freeze damage was minimized and warming temperatures helped the melting snow provide much-needed soil moisture, though likely not enough to ease the drought pressure in the driest parts of Texas, for example. The freeze wasn’t as kind to the state’s citrus crops; fortunately around 80% of the state’s orange crop and 70% of the grapefruit crop were harvested before the freeze. Though there are minimal “silver linings” to the winter storm, agronomists and crop specialists are still assessing damage as the wheat crop continues to emerge from dormancy and cotton planting approaches. See more.