Need winter grazing but there’s not enough soil moisture to plant? Dusting it in could be worth the risk. Dusting in refers to planting when there is not enough soil moisture present to get the crop emerged, but with hope of receiving a rain later.

Typical recommendations are to plant small grains for early winter grazing six to eight weeks before the first frost. If you’re looking at Central and South Texas, we’re still in good shape as far as the planting date.

An El Niño currently developing in the tropical Pacific promises a cool and wet winter for Texas, according to Dr. John Nielsen-Gammon, state climatologist and regents professor at Texas A&M University.

However, the El Niño has yet to deliver on that promise to large parts of the state, particularly the Far West, Panhandle and Rolling Plains, making planting winter pastures chancy.

But hay supplies remain short or non-existent in some areas, and according to reports from AgriLife Extension county agents, many producers are going ahead and taking the chance that more rain will come. Winter pasture demands good management, including sufficient fertilization.

We had a lot of warm-season grass stands that were actually destroyed because of lack of management. Some producers are a little bit gun-shy because of that.