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Showers were blessing, but not enough
  
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By DAVID TAYLOR
This week’s rains throughout the mostly rural area of east Harris County were a welcome sight, but for farmers it wasn’t near enough.
Donald Mick of Grassland in Crosby wasn’t dancing in the two-hour rain, but he was grateful.
“It’s real hot and it’s causing chinch bugs and other varmints to come out,” Mick said. “We need more water to keep the grass growing and the bugs at bay.”
Chinch bugs have piercing-sucking mouthparts and they feed on the sap of grass plants while injecting chemicals into the plant which clog the vascular system. They live in the thatch area of the turfgrass stand and according to Texas A&M researchers, they prefer to feed on the lower leaf sheath and crown area of the plant. The grass ultimately turns yellow and dies and can happen overnight in a small patch that can grow quickly.
“We have to fight it quickly or it will take over in a hurry,” he said. Mick said they have to be careful not to drive in it because the bugs can get on the tires and spread to other parts of the grass.
Employees at Grassland and other grass farms around the area are fighting a double battle—the relentless heat and drought conditions and an economy that has grown soft over the last six months.
“We fight the heat with watering, but we can’t water fast enough to combat the drought,” Mick said.
Grassland has a contract to purchase their water from the San Jacinto Water Authority, but just buying the water isn’t enough.
“We have to pay people to move the sprinkler systems about every six hours and it actually takes about two hours to move it to the next place,” he said. The sprinkler system isn’t the same as ones in homes. It’s several hundred feet of pipe on large wheel rollers and powered by a motor.
The day at Grassland begins with watering and ends with watering with an additional watering in between.
“As often as we water, it generally takes us about a week and a half to water this property,” he said. The property is approximately 200 acres of land, and by the time the workers return to start over, the grass is parched and dry.
In his 10 years of working at Grassland, Mick and another employee, Ernie Roder, can’t remember when the area has faced triple-digit temperatures this early in June and July.
“I’ve lived in Crosby for 41 years and I don’t remember this kind of heat, this early,” Roder said.
Roder also grows hay and is singing the blues.
“On my first cut, I had less squares and no rolls whatsoever,” he said, referring to bales and rolls of hay. “We had showers in April, but it was too cool for grass to grow then. Now we haven’t had any rain in the last couple of months to amount to anything. No grass means, no food for animals.”
Roder estimated that his first cut harvest was down by as much as 50 percent.
Local farmer Scott Stephens was shaking his head at the temperatures and what it has done to his pasture.
“I can’t believe that I’m feeding my livestock hay in the middle of June and July,” he said.
Mick shares his plight with his competitors. The Crosby-Huffman area is dotted with as many as 20 grass farms owned by Grassland, Walton’s, Murff’s Turf, Glovers and others.
“We’re not only fighting the drought, but a downturn in the economy,” Mick said. He estimated that a good bit of their business was to new homebuilders and that business has slowed dramatically this year. The cost of fuel going up is also biting into their profits.
“We haven’t had to lay anyone off right now. We have a small crew, but I don’t know where we’ll be in 30 days.”
The area received about 1.5 to 2 inches of rain over a two-hour period. “We need more though,” Mick said.
The business isn’t a cheap one to run. Just one tractor with a special harvester for grass can run in the vicinity of $38,000. It’s a turnkey job for most grass farmers. They grow it, cut it, palletize it, deliver it, and unload it for customers.
Mick joked that he really could tell his friends that he watches the grass grow, but the tough times weren’t so funny.
Donald Mick of Grassland in Crosby wasn’t dancing in the two-hour rain, but he was grateful.
“It’s real hot and it’s causing chinch bugs and other varmints to come out,” Mick said. “We need more water to keep the grass growing and the bugs at bay.”
Chinch bugs have piercing-sucking mouthparts and they feed on the sap of grass plants while injecting chemicals into the plant which clog the vascular system. They live in the thatch area of the turfgrass stand and according to Texas A&M researchers, they prefer to feed on the lower leaf sheath and crown area of the plant. The grass ultimately turns yellow and dies and can happen overnight in a small patch that can grow quickly.
“We have to fight it quickly or it will take over in a hurry,” he said. Mick said they have to be careful not to drive in it because the bugs can get on the tires and spread to other parts of the grass.
Employees at Grassland and other grass farms around the area are fighting a double battle—the relentless heat and drought conditions and an economy that has grown soft over the last six months.
“We fight the heat with watering, but we can’t water fast enough to combat the drought,” Mick said.
Grassland has a contract to purchase their water from the San Jacinto Water Authority, but just buying the water isn’t enough.
“We have to pay people to move the sprinkler systems about every six hours and it actually takes about two hours to move it to the next place,” he said. The sprinkler system isn’t the same as ones in homes. It’s several hundred feet of pipe on large wheel rollers and powered by a motor.
The day at Grassland begins with watering and ends with watering with an additional watering in between.
“As often as we water, it generally takes us about a week and a half to water this property,” he said. The property is approximately 200 acres of land, and by the time the workers return to start over, the grass is parched and dry.
In his 10 years of working at Grassland, Mick and another employee, Ernie Roder, can’t remember when the area has faced triple-digit temperatures this early in June and July.
“I’ve lived in Crosby for 41 years and I don’t remember this kind of heat, this early,” Roder said.
Roder also grows hay and is singing the blues.
“On my first cut, I had less squares and no rolls whatsoever,” he said, referring to bales and rolls of hay. “We had showers in April, but it was too cool for grass to grow then. Now we haven’t had any rain in the last couple of months to amount to anything. No grass means, no food for animals.”
Roder estimated that his first cut harvest was down by as much as 50 percent.
Local farmer Scott Stephens was shaking his head at the temperatures and what it has done to his pasture.
“I can’t believe that I’m feeding my livestock hay in the middle of June and July,” he said.
Mick shares his plight with his competitors. The Crosby-Huffman area is dotted with as many as 20 grass farms owned by Grassland, Walton’s, Murff’s Turf, Glovers and others.
“We’re not only fighting the drought, but a downturn in the economy,” Mick said. He estimated that a good bit of their business was to new homebuilders and that business has slowed dramatically this year. The cost of fuel going up is also biting into their profits.
“We haven’t had to lay anyone off right now. We have a small crew, but I don’t know where we’ll be in 30 days.”
The area received about 1.5 to 2 inches of rain over a two-hour period. “We need more though,” Mick said.
The business isn’t a cheap one to run. Just one tractor with a special harvester for grass can run in the vicinity of $38,000. It’s a turnkey job for most grass farmers. They grow it, cut it, palletize it, deliver it, and unload it for customers.
Mick joked that he really could tell his friends that he watches the grass grow, but the tough times weren’t so funny.
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