Texas Crops Are Cannibalizing Themselves in Heat Wave

Crops in Texas are essentially "cannibalizing" themselves to survive during the state's severe heat wave, according to one farmer.

"They are drying up a lot faster than they should, causing it to lodge and fall over. The plant is basically cannibalizing itself and eating itself up trying to survive," farmer James Faske told KRIS-TV in Corpus Christi.

His comments come as parts of Texas have experienced extremely high temperatures—in the triple digits in places like San Antonio, Del Rio and Laredo—and several weather advisories have been imposed. Parts of the state have experienced a yearly record number of hours of "dangerously high heat," according to the National Weather Service (NWS).

Newsweek reached out to Faske via direct message for further information.

On Sunday, the NWS in Austin and San Antonio said a "mix of excessive Heat Warnings and Heat Advisories will continue today through this upcoming week" and urged residents to take "heat precautions."

According to the tweet, temperatures exceeded 100 degrees Fahrenheit in numerous cities in the state.

On Monday morning, the NWS in Houston said that triple-digit temperatures are expected to continue throughout this week.

"Excessive Heat Warnings and Heat Advisories remain in effect throughout the area today with heat index values in excess of 110 possible in many locations. Heat safety remains critical!" the NWS tweeted.

Harris County's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management urged residents to stay safe during the heat wave, as temperatures were expected to exceed 100 degrees in numerous areas across the state.

"Keep cool by staying inside when you can, and stay hydrated throughout the day!" the office tweeted.

Speaking to KXAN-TV in Austin, Mau Morales, the agriculture manager of the Sweet Eats Fruit Farm in Georgetown, said his farm is responding to the heat wave by watering plants and other crops more frequently than normal.

"We used to irrigate them maybe once a week or every other week, but now we have to irrigate two times per week. That's for all our products," Morales told the local station.

Gary Joiner, a spokesperson for the Texas Farm Bureau, told KXAN that row crops such as corn and sorghum could be the most affected by the heat wave.

"Those varieties are planted in a timely way to hopefully avoid some of the most strenuous periods of high heat, but they are also victimized by high temperatures, dry conditions when moisture is not present. Those crops suffer," Joiner said.

Joiner told Newsweek that "new seed varieties for cotton, corn, wheat, grain sorghum and other crops offer improved drought tolerance traits that are beneficial in battling the Texas summer heat. These advances have proven to be successful, and drought tolerance continues to be a focus of research and development."

He continued: "Farmers maximize the amount of moisture in the soil by utilizing sound conservation practices on the land. The conversation practices allow plants to access whatever moisture is available, even in the driest of periods."

On Monday morning, the NWS's weather prediction center forecast extremely high temperatures in Texas as well as New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi.

Update 6/26/23, 12:44 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with additional comments from Gary Joiner of the Texas Farm Bureau.