Heavy rain, storms and flooding left a mark on farms across Robertson County, and now farmers are assessing the damage.
Strong wind flattened tobacco plants at Jepson Family Farms in Orlinda. Willis Jepson said the weather will hurt the quality of the crop and hinder harvesting. Some corn and soybean crops that are near a creek were also underwater. Jepson estimated the farm saw 8 inches of rain in just 24 hours.
“There will be some crops lost, and other farmers are experiencing the same thing,” said Jepson. “We’ve experienced these things before and we will again. We are optimistic we will come out okay.”
Some crops were also damaged at Hill Family Farm in White House. Byron Hill said he expected they would have to replant some radishes and turnips which would set them back about a week. A tarp that provided shelter for the pigs was also blown down, and a shelter for chickens was leaking.
“Overall, we still fared pretty well,” said Hill. “I can’t imagine what farmers in Houston are going through.”
Jepson was also keeping a close watch on the Red River as the water continued to rise, but felt the worst of the rain and flooding was over.
Jepson said there are federal crop insurance programs that can help farmers recover from a big loss of crops.
