Dry Spell Weighs on Texas’ Cool-Season Forage Planting

Oct 10, 2025

By Adam Russell

Weather trends toward drought have Texas cattle producers considering their options as cool-season forage planting gets underway.

Much of the state has experienced an extended dry period in recent months. The lack of moisture has left many pastures and fields typically planted with cool-season forages for winter grazing sitting idle as producers wait for rain.

Vanessa Corriher-Olson, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension forage specialist and professor in the Texas A&M Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Overton, said many East Texas producers are delaying or may not plant cool-season forages due to adequate hay stocks and dry weather.

Corriher-Olson said good spring and summer moisture left many operations with ample hay supplies. As a result, some producers may rely on baled hay rather than risk planting into dry soils.

Source : tamu.edu

Video: Managing Severe PRRS Outbreaks - Dr. Claire Mtezankuni

In this episode of The Swine it Podcast Show Canada, Dr. Claire Mtezankuni, Swine Veterinarian at Carthage Veterinary Service, discusses the growing severity of PRRS outbreaks in sow farms. She explains how respiratory disease and sow mortality are changing outbreak response, why necropsies and bacterial cultures can guide treatment, and how vaccination, biosecurity, pain management, and clear team communication support recovery and elimination. Listen now on all major platforms!

“Emerging PRRS strains can produce severe reproductive and respiratory disease simultaneously, creating substantial health challenges across sow farms during acute outbreaks.”

Meet the guest: Dr. Claire Mtezankuni / claire-mtezankuni-2529b1b3 is a Swine Veterinarian at Carthage Veterinary Service in Illinois, where her work includes commercial farm veterinary leadership, herd health, disease elimination, and veterinary internship coordination. She holds a DVM from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a Master of Veterinary Science in Livestock Systems Health from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Learn more from Dr. Claire Mtezankuni on The Swine it Podcast Show Canada, available on all major platforms.