Farmers thrilled by rain

Local farmers say they’re overjoyed with some of the best rainfall totals they’ve seen in years.

For one outlying community, it’s not just “a good year” — it’s a record.

“This was the wettest February on record for Friona since 1931,” said Bill Ellis, a cotton and grain sorghum farmer. “The farmers around here are all smiling.”

The Friona total for February was 2.34 inches compared to 0.10 of an inch last year for all of February and January, and this year’s total since March 1 has been 2.5 inches including 0.15 of an inch Friday.

That was the highest total of any reporting station in the area, but other observers also said their rain gauges were unexpectedly full.

Leo Moon, whose family farms in the McAlister and House areas, said the rain has been keeping him out of his fields — but that’s fine with him.

“We just haven’t gotten to work much this week, it’s been raining with a slow drizzle, but we had to have it, it’s really dry,” Moon said. “We’ve had four years of pretty severe drought.”

Wilma Fulgham of B&W Trucking said the ranchers for whom she hauls cattle are also happy.

“Some people actually have a hope of making a wheat crop now,” Fulgham said. “It’s going to definitely help stretch out the wheat pasture. It will allow cattle to stay on wheat longer.”

Clovis’ official rain total was 0.08 of an inch Friday and 0.81 of an inch for the duration of the storm. Chuck Jones, senior forecaster with the Albuquerque office of the National Weather Service, said Clovis can expect more rain soon.

“It looks like it will be dry through at least Wednesday, but there may be a storm developing during the middle of the week by Wednesday night and through the first part of the weekend,” Jones said.