Little by little parts of Texas are seeing drought conditions improve.

This time last year nearly sixty percent of the state was in the most critical drought stage but, as of last week, that number had dwindled to less than one percent.

Unfortunately, two counties that remain in an Exceptional Drought are Jones and Haskell.

From Anson to the northern part of Jones County, rainfall has been very slim.

This is bad news for cotton growers in the county because nearly all of the 80,000 acres dedicated to cotton production rely on rainfall, instead of irrigation, for water.

The dry weather is forcing some producers to make decisions.

Steve Estes, Extension Agent for Jones County, tells us that areas that are lacking moisture have to choose between deep soil planting and "dry planting".

Producers who choose to dry plant their seeds don't plant them as far beneath the surface which allows them to take advantage of water that may not permeate as far into the ground.

While the drought continues for these two counties, both received some beneficial rainfall over the weekend.