Laying the groundwork: After dry winter, area producers preparing soil for planting

Dry conditions in fields during the mid-winter are nothing new on the Panhandle/South Plains. [File photo]

A mostly dry and somewhat mild winter has farmers on the High Plains preparing for planting season in advance.

Despite a relatively dry start to the year - Lubbock is about 0.4 of an inch and Amarillo is 0.54 below average precipitation since January - the Panhandle/South Plains is generally not under any drought conditions, according to the latest Texas Drought Monitor released Thursday.

a group of people walking down a dirt road: Dry conditions in fields during the mid-winter are nothing new on the Panhandle/South Plains. [File photo]

But the inconsistent temperatures, dry weather and grazing have taken a toll on wheat, said Darby Campsey with Texas Wheat. The crop is increasingly seeing grades rating it from "poor" to "very poor" from the National Agricultural Statistics Service, and 38% of wheat from Texas was in that category.

As for spring wheat, the time for field preparation has passed but there are still resources available for producers at texaswheat.org.

"We encourage producers to explore management options to maximize wheat yield and quality," said Campsey.

Grape vines are being treated now as well, including those managed on the South Plains by winemaker Kim McPherson, who started in January when temperatures were in the 70s.

"I have guys watering their vines now because we haven't had a lot of moisture," said McPherson. "Last year we had pretty good moisture in the winter and spring, so we didn't need to water. Then all of a sudden, it got hot and dry. These vines go pretty deep and you don't want to stress the vine if you don't have to."

Pre-watering, which has been a long-time practice, might not be the best option for other crops, however, as it runs the risk of losing water to evaporation.

"If the water is limited, it may be best to not do it the way we've been accustomed to in the past," said Calvin Trostle, agronomist with Texas A&M AgriLife in Lubbock.

Trostle referenced a study by fellow AgriLife engineer Jim Bordovsky who found that there's a chance pre-watering can cause soil to become over-saturated and, with high winds and low humidity, could evaporate and lead to only a certain amount of the applied water getting to the crop.

"It's water that's lost, where some might put it out in the season where it could get used," Trostle explained. "I think, for a farmer that knows the water is limited and you don't have as much as you did five or ten years ago, you may be better off to hang on to that."

Trostle said rain water is still the best kind of moisture to get, and although there hasn't been much, there is no area in the region that's considered abnormally dry. Farmers are sharing good soil condition reports with Trostle, a sign that there could be water stored in the soil heading into the spring.

a truck driving down a dirt road: A water pivot sprays a field in North Lubbock County. [File photo]

It could also be beneficial to leave crop residue or stubble on the land, according to Trostle.

"If you have some material on the surface of the ground, it protects the soil surface so you don't get the erosion from a big rain," said Trostle. "Stubble can reduce the heat on the soil surface so that would reduce the amount of evaporated loss in your soil. Residue is something we recognize now than we did probably 20 or 30 years ago for it's potential benefits in retaining some moisture."

Whether it's through crop residue or reducing tillage, Trostle said farmers are aware of how important the water is.

"These folks all know water is precious here in Texas," said Trostle. "When it comes to moisture, catch it, keep it, and reap it."

Moesel: Warming temps invite cool-season planting in central Oklahoma

Plant seeds of cool-season root crops like beets, radish, carrot and turnips for an easy fresh crop. You can also plant cauliflower, kohlrabi and green peas over the next three or four weeks to get a good harvest before we get too hot for these cool, semi-hardy crops.

Now to mid-March is the time to plant bareroot crowns of asparagus, horseradish and rhubarb to establish these perennial food crops you can harvest each year. This is also a good time to plant bareroot strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and grapes, as well as blueberries, boysenberries, youngberries and gooseberries.

With all the interest in anti-oxidants, colored fruits and vegetables and fresh food, there is no better time to plant your own collection of berries and fruit trees. Many of these berries and trees will be available later as container-grown plants you can plant anytime, but the least expensive time is to buy and plant them bareroot over the next three weeks.

Bareroot plants should be planted and watered in as soon as possible before the roots dry out to improve your success rate. Make sure to pay attention to whether the berries you are planting have a bush or vining form so that you can plant them at the proper spot in your yard. Most all of the food crops will produce more fruit or vegetables when planted in full sun or as sunny a spot as possible. Many will grow in part shady or shady areas but their harvest will be much smaller.

Trees and shrubs will benefit from a spring kickoff application of a balanced fertilizer to maximize their spring burst of growth. February is prime pruning month for ornamental shade trees, summer flowering shrubs and evergreen shrubs. Do not prune spring flowering shrubs or you will cheat yourself out of their spring flower show.

Prune forsythia, quince and other spring flowering shrubs after they bloom.

Now is a great time to plant container-grown or balled and burlapped field-grown trees and shrubs to improve and update your foundation plantings.

Rodd Moesel serves as president of Oklahoma Farm Bureau and was inducted into the Oklahoma Agriculture Hall of Fame.

Ex-Sanders consultant arrested after allegedly planting weapons in jail for 'evil' escape plot

Five fast things to know about presidential nominee Senator Bernie Sanders, including his recent heart attack, and a folk album release.

A former consultant for Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign was arrested after he allegedly planted loaded weapons and ammunition inside a Tennessee corrections facility that was under construction in an attempt to carry out a future jailbreak, authorities said.

Criminal justice reform advocate Alex Friedmann, who was not an inmate but allegedly was plotting to help prisoners escape when the facility opened, was arrested Tuesday on one count of felony vandalism, but Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall said during a press conference Wednesday that the allegations go far beyond that.

The opening of the Nashville detention center, which was slated for April, was indefinitely postponed after his arrest, according to the Tennessean.

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“Throughout the last several weeks it was discovered that Mr. Friedmann, over many months, had developed and implemented an extremely deliberate – and in my opinion evil – plan,” Hall said during the press conference, which was broadcast by local NBC affiliate WSMV. “Understand, this plan went far beyond vandalism. Ultimately it included planting various tools, weapons, security equipment throughout this facility. All designed to assist in a massive escape plan.”

Hall went on to describe how the weapons included loaded guns and ammunition.

“What disturbed me most is not that this was about an escape,” he said. “It was also about loss of life.”

Friedmann worked with the 2016 presidential campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., as one of several consultants who educated him on criminal justice issues. It resulted in Sanders introducing a bill aimed at eliminating private prisons. Friedmann told The Atlantic in 2015 that the bill did not go far enough to achieve that goal.

“It appears to be more for political purposes than to actually address the many problems in our criminal justice system,” he told the publication.

Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.

Sheriff Hall said the arrest came after an investigation stemming from a previous case involving Friedmann, who was arrested in January on charges including attempted burglary for allegedly posing as a construction worker to enter a different detention center multiple times, stealing keys, and diagraming the layout of the center, which was still being built and not in use at the time.

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A press release from the sheriff’s office said that corrections officials noticed on Dec. 30 that two keys were missing. They viewed surveillance video and saw someone dressed as a construction worker who matched Friedmann’s description taking a key ring, then coming back and replacing it with two keys missing.

Friedmann, who was associate director of the Human Rights Defense Center and managing editor of its Prison Legal News publication, was released following that arrest after he posted $2,500 bond, and the case is still pending. HRDC director Paul Wright declined to comment on the allegations but told Fox News that Friedmann resigned from the organization following his January arrest.

Friedmann’s attorney Ben Raybin told Fox News that it was “important to clarify that the new vandalism charge stems from alleged conduct arising last year, and not any recent actions occurring after his previous arrest.” He said the keys were returned to the sheriff’s office and that Friedmann has been cooperative.

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