Corn and sorghum crops in Texas are performing well in areas with adequate moisture, while drought-affected regions continue to struggle, according to a May 4 statement from Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service experts.
Crop conditions this spring have varied significantly across the state due to weather patterns. Early planted corn suffered from drought and freeze damage, but recent rains in Central Texas have improved prospects for many producers. Ronnie Schnell, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension state cropping system specialist and professor at the Texas A&M Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, said, “We’ll see what the weather does moving forward; we seem to have a favorable forecast in the next few weeks, so things should continue to improve. The young crops are hanging in there.” Schnell also noted that “the whole state is waiting to see a change in the weather pattern,” adding that smaller plants could still reach yield potential if more beneficial moisture arrives.
No major insect or disease issues have been reported so far, with dry conditions keeping weeds under control. However, high input costs remain a concern for producers. Mark Welch, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension economist-grain marketing and policy and professor at the Department of Agricultural Economics at Bryan-College Station said that commodities such as corn, grain sorghum and soybeans are seeing higher prices because of their strong fuel-use component: “We are seeing strong price increases, but we are just putting those corn and soybean crops in the ground – we don’t know about acres or yields or what the weather conditions will be during the growing season, so it is early still.” He added that fertilizer prices remain high into 2027: “Any anhydrous that was prepaid or bought was good for those producers… everyone can expect to pay higher prices into 2027 even if disruptions stopped today.”
Welch explained that global demand for fertilizer remains strong due to heavy reliance on imports by countries like China and Brazil. He said it may be too early for fertilizer price spikes to impact global grain production but expects trends could appear later this summer given ongoing shipping disruptions.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report set for release this month will provide initial outlooks on wheat, corn and soybean acreage as well as yield projections.
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