Texas Corn and Wheat Farming: Cultivation and Markets

Texas plants more than 2 million acres of wheat in a typical season and harvests corn across a surprisingly diverse geographic footprint — from the irrigated High Plains to the rainfed blackland prairies. These two grains anchor different regions, serve different markets, and respond to weather in different ways, yet both sit at the center of Texas's identity as a commodity-crop state. This page covers the cultivation mechanics, market structures, and decision-making frameworks that shape corn and wheat production across Texas.

Definition and scope

Corn (Zea mays) and wheat (Triticum aestivum for winter wheat, the dominant Texas variety) are row crops grown primarily for grain sale into commodity markets, though both also supply silage and forage markets depending on growing conditions and price signals.

Texas wheat is overwhelmingly winter wheat — planted in the fall, vernalized through cold months, and harvested the following May or June. The Texas Panhandle and Rolling Plains account for the largest concentrations, with Hale, Swisher, and Floyd counties consistently ranking among the state's top wheat-producing counties according to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). Corn production leans heavily on the High Plains around Lubbock and Plainview, where Ogallala Aquifer irrigation supplements often-insufficient rainfall.

This page addresses field-scale commercial grain production governed by Texas state law and USDA federal programs. It does not cover ornamental or sweet corn production, hobby or subsistence scale operations, or wheat grown exclusively for cover cropping outside of a commodity context. Readers looking at broader grain systems, including grain sorghum's role alongside corn, can find that context at Texas Grain Sorghum Production.

How it works

Wheat cultivation cycle

Winter wheat in Texas follows a rhythm that would look familiar to any farmer in Kansas — but compressed by a climate that arrives at extremes faster.

Planting — September through November, seeding at roughly 60 to 90 pounds per acre depending on variety and moisture conditions.
Dual-purpose grazing — Many Texas wheat acres are grazed by stocker cattle through winter before "pulling" cattle off in February or March to allow the crop to joint and head. This dual-purpose system effectively monetizes the same acre twice.
Disease and pest management — Wheat streak mosaic virus and Hessian fly pressure require varietal selection aligned with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension resistance ratings, which are updated annually.
Harvest — Combines move through the Texas Panhandle in late May, then push northward in a progression that parallels the Great Plains harvest belt.
Post-harvest marketing — Grain moves to country elevators, then into the Gulf export pipeline through facilities at Houston and Corpus Christi, or into regional flour mills.

Corn cultivation cycle

Texas corn planted as a grain crop runs on a spring schedule — April planting in South Texas, May planting in the Panhandle — with harvest extending from July in the south to September in the north. On the High Plains, corn without irrigation is essentially not viable; fields there draw on center-pivot systems pulling from the Ogallala, an aquifer that the Texas Water Development Board reports is declining at rates that make long-term planning genuinely complex.

Yield benchmarks differ sharply by region. Irrigated High Plains corn can achieve 200 bushels per acre in strong years. Dryland corn in East Texas or the Blacklands averages closer to 100 to 130 bushels per acre, depending on seasonal rainfall. The USDA NASS Texas Field Office publishes county-level yield estimates annually that allow producers to benchmark local performance.

Common scenarios

Scenario 1: Dual-purpose wheat — grain or graze-out

A Panhandle producer plants 500 acres of hard red winter wheat in October. By December, adequate moisture allows stocking with yearling cattle at roughly 1 animal unit per 5 acres. In February, the decision point arrives: pull cattle and pursue a grain crop, or continue grazing and sacrifice the grain head entirely. This "graze-out" option is exercised when cattle markets are strong or when drought damage to the wheat stand makes grain yield projections unattractive. The Texas AgriLife Extension Small Grains website provides threshold calculations for making that call based on stand counts and cattle prices.

Scenario 2: Corn under pivot irrigation with crop insurance

A Lubbock-area producer with 4 center pivots covering 800 acres plants corn in early May, enrolls in the Revenue Protection plan through the USDA Risk Management Agency's Crop Insurance program, and selects a coverage level of 75 percent of projected revenue. If both yield and corn prices fall — the double-loss scenario — the revenue protection policy triggers a payment whereas a yield-only policy might not. Crop insurance premium subsidies for corn average around 62 percent of the total premium cost nationally (RMA Summary of Business), making participation economically rational for most commercial operations.

Scenario 3: Wheat following cotton

In the South Plains, winter wheat frequently rotates behind cotton harvest. The cotton picker exits in November; the drill enters within days. This rotation improves disease pressure management and spreads equipment and labor costs across two revenue streams — a structure discussed in depth at Texas Crop Production.

Decision boundaries

Corn and wheat producers face three distinct decision categories where the choice materially changes outcomes:

Crop vs. crop — When should an acre that could support either crop be planted to corn versus wheat? The primary variables are water availability, input cost exposure, and basis (the local price spread relative to Chicago Board of Trade futures). Corn demands significantly higher nitrogen inputs — typically 180 to 220 pounds of actual nitrogen per acre for a high-yield irrigated crop — while wheat runs on 80 to 120 pounds per acre in most Texas scenarios.

Market timing — Both crops can be sold at harvest or stored. On-farm storage allows producers to capture basis improvement but introduces carrying costs and price risk. Elevator storage agreements and hedge-to-arrive contracts negotiated through commodity brokers formalize price discovery before harvest — a practice that intersects with Texas Agricultural Commodity Prices and federal farm program election decisions tracked through the USDA Farm Service Agency.

Program election — Under the 2018 Farm Act (Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018), producers elect between Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) for base acres. Wheat historically triggers PLC payments when national average prices fall below the $5.50 per bushel reference price. Corn's reference price sits at $3.70 per bushel. These elections, managed through local FSA county offices, carry multi-year consequences and interact with crop insurance choices in ways that require coordinated planning. For producers navigating these decisions, the broader financial landscape is covered at Texas Farm Subsidies and Federal Programs.

Understanding how soil type, water access, and market structure intersect across the state starts with the foundational overview at Texas Agriculture Authority.

References

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