AUSTIN — It’s a hot Texas summer, but I’m thinking about winter—longing for cooler temperatures and a rain shower or two.
The Farmers’ Almanac’s annual winter prediction came out last week, and it has some of that in the forecast.
It says Texas should be prepared for wild swings in the weather—from very cold to very warm. The forecast gurus also anticipate calm conditions mixed in with some turbulent spells.
If you ask me, that sounds a little like a winter weather buffet.
But farmers and ranchers won’t get to choose the weather they’ll face. Although, if they did have their way, they’d pick rain. To replenish soil moisture, fill reservoirs, give their crops a drink and top off the stock tanks.
The long-range forecast is one farmers have relied on for 200 years. Sometimes it’s on target. Other times it misses the mark.
But whatever the forecast, rain is always on a farmer’s wish list. And however the drops fall, they’ll play the hand they’re dealt from Mother Nature this winter.
—Gene Hall
Texas Farm Bureau
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