Milder winter helps growers, ranchers rebound from 2010 drought

Hay growers were able to produce modestly because of the rains earlier in the year, Underwood said.

"The recent rain has been a little late, but it will help," he said.

There are more than 5,000 agriculture producers in the Tomball and Magnolia region and more than 10,000 agriculture producers in Harris County.

Smaller farmers who grow produce to sell at local farmers markets have done well this season, Underwood said.

"Producers who raise five acres of tomatoes or lettuce have been fine," Underwood said. "Those guys may have irrigation wells they can tap into."

Still, the lack of rain water has reduced crops yields, said Rick Matt, owner of Matt Family Orchard in Tomball.

"I wish we had more rain," Matt said. "I think we're down about 12 inches. Every plant we have is irrigated, but there's nothing like rain water."

In addition, the colder spring, including many freezes, hindered local growers.

"The lack of water is one thing, what really hurt us and others is we had such a mild winter, then when spring came, we had cold weather and freezes," Matt said.

Matt's 35-acre orchard still had a large crop of blackberries and figs in July.

"[The blackberries are] delicious—they are big and plump, and they're full of juice," Matt said. "We're having a good season with the figs, too. We have six different varieties."

Texas has been in a drought declaration for three years. Gov. Rick Perry extended the state's drought emergency July 5 for specified counties.

The drought caused a large sell-off of cattle in Texas in 2010. Now, with inventory low, the price for livestock has dramatically increased from three years ago, Underwood said.

"Markets for livestock have been fantastic," he said. "We've seen higher prices than we've ever seen before. There's just aren't many cows out there."

The price for a replacement female cow has increased to $2,600 from $1,200 three years ago.

"The price of replacement females to start over again is cost prohibitive," Underwood said. "It's going to cost you a lot more money to get back in the business now."

Montgomery County extended its outdoor burn ban as dry conditions continue in the region.

The region's average drought reading is 610 on the Keetch-Byram Dought Index, where readings range from 0–800, with 800 representing completely dry areas.