Alternative Crops Offer Producers Diversification And Late-Planting Options

KAY LEDBETTER

COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS

Across Texas, alternative or nontraditional crops continue to find a significant role in many farming operations because they offer crop diversification or an additional opportunity for late-season planting after failed crops.

While some crops are limited by contract availability and marketing options, Texas producers plant almost 1 million acres of alternative crops such as sunflowers, sesame, Sudan grass, alfalfa and hemp, said Calvin Trostle, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service agronomist, statewide hemp and alternative crop specialist and professor, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Lubbock.

“Alternative crops in Texas, especially for those producers who are willing to take the time to understand and optimize production practices and marketing opportunities, certainly have a place in diversified farming operations,” Trostle said. “And we in Texas A&M AgriLife have the expertise to help farmers make those management decisions.”

While rains have been scattered around the state, he said conditions in the lower South Plains and South Texas improved slightly from severe drought. However, the Panhandle region has not changed much in recent weeks, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Alternative crops around the state

Sunflowers

The 10,000-15,000 acres of sunflowers in the lower Rio Grande Valley, planted in February, will be ready for harvest in late June to July. Sunflowers in the High Plains, which are headed to the bird food market in Lubbock and oil crush market in Colorado, have kept acreage steady at about 15,000 acres and 10,000 acres, respectively.

“The sunflower has taught producers in these semi-arid regions that their roots are really good at getting to deep-soil moisture,” Trostle said. “This has definitely given those farmers in Hildalgo and Starr counties an alternative when moisture is short.”

In 2025, sunflower prices were good, he said, but the market has come down a bit this year to about $22 per hundredweight for oil crush and slightly higher for bird food. In 2025, the bird food market was offering $26 per hundredweight, and the oil crush market was $24-$25 per hundredweight.

Guar

Some farmers are planting guar on a contract basis as it offers a heat and drought-tolerant rotational crop, Trostle said. The processing plant in Brownfield is taking more acres, so now there are 15,000-20,000 acres planted.

The market price is low, 22.5 cents per hundredweight, but guar is inexpensive to grow and often chosen after a failed crop, he said. Also, cotton yields following a guar crop are typically better.

Guar is a nitrogen-fixing legume that producers have utilized as a rotation crop, especially for cotton. Its gum has also been marketed as an emulsifier for products used in oil and gas production and cosmetics.

“They have the processing plant running again and are having to import guar to stay at capacity,” he said. “The hope is to get the acreage up so they can offer a higher price for U.S.-grown guar and have less reliance on imports.”

Sesame and black-eyed peas

Sesame production in Texas continues in the Rolling Plains and into the Winter Garden area, with planting taking place primarily in May and June. Typically, somewhere between 50,000-75,000 acres are grown on a contract basis in Texas and directed to a processing plant in Oklahoma.

Black-eyed peas are another contracted crop, with growers spread across the state, but primarily in the High Plains. They are planted in June and early July, and acreage is dependent on contracts.

Summer annual forages

Another alternative is summer annual forage crops such as hybrid pearl millet and sorghum Sudan grass grown statewide on about 500,000 acres. They have a wide planting window and are very valuable to the livestock industry, including feedlots and dairy operations, Trostle said.

“They can be planted throughout the summer until August around Lubbock and still get a harvest, which makes them a valuable replacement for failed crops,” he said. “They are versatile because they don’t rely on physiological seed maturing, so they only need about 60-75 days to grow.”

Alfalfa

Alfalfa is a perennial alternative crop where growers expect to get up to four years of growth. Texas grows about 60,000 acres of alfalfa annually. The high-value crop gets producers $275-$300 a ton for premium-to-supreme quality, prices that have remained steady from last year, Trostle said.

“It is the queen of forages for our dairy industry, but it is highly dependent on irrigation water in West Texas,” he said.

Hemp

Fiber hemp acreage has fallen to less than 500 acres in Texas, Trostle said, because the main processing plant is looking to northern Oklahoma and Kansas for production.

Trostle said multiple factors have contributed to declining hemp acreage.

“We are realizing the optimum production requires an earlier planting date that doesn’t align with traditional cropping patterns in Texas,” he said. “Producers also need a premium price to cover the involved risks associated with the regulatory requirements.”   ∆

KAY LEDBETTER

TEXAS AGRILIFE