Crop Insurance May Be Last Hope For North Texas Farmers
FORRESTON (CBSDFW.COM) - The lack of rain and the extreme heat is hitting North Texas farmers hard. One Ellis County farmer is starting to feel the effects of a harsh summer, despite crop insurance.
"Nothing is growing, not even weeds are growing - few things can survive," Forreston resident Lee Calvert said.
First it was the drought, now the extreme heat is threatening their crops. "We are at the mercy of mother nature, unfortuantly," Calvert said.
Just two months ago Calvert, a third generation Ellis County farmer, was worried about the lack of rain for his corn crop. Calvert's corn fell short of its usualy 80-100 bushel per acre yield. He managed to just salvage 50-bushels per acre with his current crop.
Today, his concerns have shifted to his cotton fields. "Usually they're about this big and cotton is exploding out of them," Calvert said, gesturing to his cotton stalks.
Back in June, his parched soil showed the stress of the sun - cracks measured several inches deep. In mid-August his cotton crop isn't much better. Cracks now measure up to two feet deep. "It's probably not going to be half of what it normally makes as well."
Calvert has crop insurance. It's required by the government before seeds even touch the soil. It's similar to car insurance and farmers can choose their coverage. Even still, Calvert says you can't predict what the season will hold in terms of weather, and how the elements will affect his yields.
"This would be considered an act of mother nature or act of God as it says in the policy - this is not normal for us. This is a deficit of rainfall," Calvert said.
An adjuster will have to calculate Calvert's losses to determine how much money he can qualify for. One insurance agent reported a higher than usual number of claims filed after corn was harvested, and says he expects more claims to be filed once it's time to pick cotton.
