Water shortages and market fluctuations are causing significant challenges for producers in the Texas Winter Garden and lower Rio Grande Valley, two major growing regions for the state, according to Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service experts.
Drought has particularly impacted the lower Rio Grande Valley, said Larry Stein, AgriLife Extension horticultural specialist and professor, Texas A&M Department of Horticultural Sciences, Uvalde.
“Water woes are the theme of this year’s growing season,” Stein said. “We’re in dire straits here in the southern part of the state.”
Despite good soil moisture in North Texas and East Texas, Stein said drought conditions worsen moving south from the Texas Winter Garden.
Shrinking water allotments and drought have put growers in a bind, said Juan Anciso, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension horticulture program leader and associate department head, Department of Horticultural Science based at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Weslaco.
South Texas’ 24 irrigation districts are nearing the end of their water allotments for the 2025 cool-season crop, Anciso said. The districts’ average water capacity is around 21%.
While water runs short, Anciso said South Texas producers are growing more onions and other leafy greens such as mustard greens, turnip greens, parsley, cilantro and celery to get the most out of their remaining irrigation allotments.
Stein added the water shortages have led to a notable increase in onion acreage in the Texas Winter Garden. In the Rio Grande Valley, 7,000 of the region’s 15,000-18,000 horticultural crop acres were planted with onions this year.
Cold snaps, cooled markets
Anciso said the arctic blasts that hit Texas in January and mid-February did not cause notable damage to crops.
“There were concerns, and we’ve seen some effects from the arctic blasts, but it’s been very minimal,” Anciso said.
While cold temperatures did not sting crops, stagnant prices and higher input costs are making it tough for growers, Stein said.
“Growers are facing a status quo situation,” he said. “Input costs have gone up, but the price return to the farms hasn’t really increased that much.”
