With a few exceptions, rains brought by Hurricane Alex were a good thing, in some cases a godsend, according to a Texas AgriLife Extension Service agronomist.

Dr. Travis Miller, AgriLife Extension agronomist and a member of the Texas Drought Preparedness Council, said the rain was particularly beneficial to 20 to 25 counties in East and Central Texas that were "slipping into drought" before the hurricane.

If any producers were hurt, it was sorghum growers along the Gulf Coast and Rio Grande Valley, he said.

"We've had significant rains over the state in the last couple of weeks, a lot of them associated with Hurricane Alex," Miller said. "It dumped a lot of rainfall along the coast –6 to 10 inches, from what I'm hearing."

The rain and winds affected the ongoing sorghum harvest from the Rio Grande Valley up to around Corpus Christi, he said.

"The reports I'm getting are sprouted grain and other problems associated with that extended period of wet weather."

Typically, about half the state's sorghum is grown in the Rio Grande Valley region, Miller said. How much of that acreage was adversely affected by the storm is not yet known.

But in general, the rains were very favorable, and most of the state's crops were not damaged, he said.

"We had a large acreage of cotton in the field, and most of that cotton is going to benefit from that rainfall," Miller said. "We were getting a bit dry over much of the Blacklands, Central Texas and the High Plains."

Before the rain, hay supplies were low if non-existent with little chance for another cutting. Corn leaves were curling in the Waco area from lack of moisture.

"It may be bit late for the corn crop in Central Texas, but soybean, hay, vegetables and fruit crops are all going to benefit," Miller said.